


Illuminated

by SportsnAnimeManiac (sktrgrl13)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Elementals, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Forgiveness, Foursome - M/M/M/M, Gen, Guardians - Freeform, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Internal Conflict, Love, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, OT4 Breeding Grounds, Pain, Panic Attacks, Sacrifice, Self-Hatred, Self-Sacrifice, Slow Burn, Team as Family, Tsukishima Kei-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27372913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sktrgrl13/pseuds/SportsnAnimeManiac
Summary: Tsukishima Kei would rather continue living his life the way it was -- behind his walls where no one dared to reach him and where his past couldn't get him. But when a strange woman ruins his anthropology paper and unleashes something that was locked away inside of him, the Fate of not only the World he knows, but also the World he doesn't is thrust upon his shoulders. Not even his walls are strong enough to keep out the truth.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou, Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Akaashi Keiji/Tsukishima Kei, Bokuto Koutarou/Tsukishima Kei, Hanamaki Takahiro/Iwaizumi Hajime/Matsukawa Issei, Hanamaki Takahiro/Iwaizumi Hajime/Matsukawa Issei/Oikawa Tooru, Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei, Pre Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tsukishima Akiteru & Tsukishima Kei, Tsukishima Akiteru & Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsukishima Kei & Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 91
Collections: maazeesfavs





	1. A New Dawn - Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So... here we are...the re-write of 'An Unexpected Light'...
> 
> Now don't be frightened -- I am going to be keeping all of my old chapters, I'll just be tweaking them slightly to make them more fit to purpose. Since it's been so long since I originally started this journey, I realised that I would need to perform some construction and maintenance before pushing forward with the plot. 
> 
> Here is a brief prologue to start us off for now -- I am hoping to potentially post a new chapter this weekend (which will be a lot longer).
> 
> Do not be afraid to let me know what you think!! xx

Everything seemed so different.

When he was smaller he never thought that he would see this much green or feel such warm air brushing against his pale skin. He didn’t expect to see such pretty flowers blooming on the trees or people stopping in the middle of the street and talking to each other. He hasn’t seen anything like this in a long, long time; he would say that it almost felt like centuries.

He glanced around the town square and gazed at the various food stalls and vendors that seemed to outline it. Everywhere he looked, someone seemed to be in the middle of some sort of trade deal or having a conversation with those around them. All he could see were smiles and that in turn wanted to make him smile as well, but he wasn’t sure if he knew how to anymore. 

His mother…his brother…

The boy sighed sadly as he tried to shake away the thoughts that intruded his mind. His brother had warned him that if his emotions got out of control, bad things would happen; and that was something he had to avoid at all cost. He didn’t want them to find him again. If they did it would be the end of everything and everyone. He wanted everyone to be happy. He didn’t want to subject them to the pain that he has suffered; no one deserved a life like that.

The boy gazed down at his tattered, fingerless gloves and curled his slim appendages into the base of his palm. He could feel the energy that hummed around the pads of his fingers and he knew that he needed help, but he knew better than to ask. His brother always warned him that  _ they _ were watching. Whoever they were; he had actually never found out.

He shoved his hands deep into his holey jeans and buried his face into the neck of his dirty sweater. Keeping his honey eyes on the cobbled street in front of him, the boy trudged his way through the warm weather in search of someplace to stay; squinting his eyes slightly just to make out the signs outside of the buildings in the distance. 

It wasn’t long before his mind drifted back to his mother and brother once more. His mother had always said that there were people out there who would be able to help him. Who would know how to keep him safe...whatever that meant. He clenched his jaw and pressed the tips of his fingers firmly against his thighs; nearly pinching them as the ever present fear swirled in his lower stomach.

What if they shunned him?

Or even worse; what if they tried to hurt him?

With his heart pounding in his chest, he picked up his speed and manoeuvred around the excited townspeople as carefully as he could. Maybe finding people was a bad idea; he’s lasted by himself for this long after all. He could just live on the streets, in the alleys, or something; anything would be better than where he came from anyway. 

With newfound determination, the boy turned on his heel and headed towards a hidden alley on the other side of the road. His heart pounding heavily in his ears as he rushed towards the opening; his one and only exit. In his rush to get to his destination, he barely caught himself as he was suddenly pushed; his awkward, gangly legs nearly tangling with each other as he tried to stay on his feet. A hot flush instantaneously shot up the back of his neck and warmed his cheeks as we scowled at the man who was now standing before him. The boy felt his skin run cold as soon as the older man’s amber eyes clashed with his. 

The same chestnut brown hair and the same pale skin; slightly wrinkled with time. The same patches of scars littering the man’s hands. The same crows feet highlighting, far too intelligent amber eyes; belying a hidden cruelty beneath the kindness.

“Are you alright young’un?” 

The boy couldn’t stop staring at the man, his heart pounding even more furiously in his ears. How had they found him that fast? He was sure that he covered his tracks really well; not to mention that there was a huge rainfall that would have washed away any hint of him. He followed everything that Aki-nii-san told him to. 

The boy backed away from the man; his shoulders hunched defensively around his ears as his fists grasped at nothing from within the protection of his jeans. The man looked down on him with something akin to concern, but it had to be a trick. The old man squatted on his haunches and grabbed a hold of the boy’s frail arm firmly,

“C’mon now boy,” He whispered; false tenderness in his voice, “Where are your parents? You look mighty young to be walking around here on your own.”

The boy shook his head back and forth frantically, fear nearly pouring out of his eyes. It was the same trick as before; the same way  _ they _ had gotten him and Aki-nii-san in the first place. He was prepared for it. He tugged desperately on his arm so he could get it out of the old man’s grip, but it just prompted the stranger to hold onto him tighter. 

“Come along now, I’ll take you somewhere where we can get you some help; how does that sound?”

_ No… _

He couldn’t find his voice, but he knew that this is what he wanted to say. What he wanted to shout. 

_ No. _

He was not going to let them take him away. Not after Aki-nii-san gave everything to make sure that he was safe. But the man’s grip just seemed to get tighter and tighter. The man’s pulling and tugging is getting more and more forceful. The boy was pretty sure he could hear the bones that made up his wrist clicking and scraping against one another as he tried to fight against the man’s hold.

_ Let me go! Just leave me alone! I WON’T LET YOU TAKE ME! _

He didn’t know what it was, but suddenly a warmth sprouted in the middle of his chest. A warmth that was growing. Expanding. Encompassing his entire being; the pads of his fingers tingling again with a force that he wasn’t aware of. More focused on trying to pull his arm out of the man’s grip, he didn’t notice when his arm started to emit a faint, pulsing light.

A light that kept growing. And growing. And growing. And growing. Until it swallowed up the boy, the man, and most of the street.

Everything was still.


	2. Cold Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima Kei and his childhood friend Yamaguchi Tadashi visit the old ruins of Datekyo Castle under the instructions of their History teacher Takeda-sensei. They went there to simply look at the ruins and potentially look for artefacts that showed evidence of an ancient civilisation. What they find instead is an old woman who forces Kei to realise that his childhood friend might be keeping a few secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So double update...
> 
> That happened...

The soft golden rays of the rising sun peeled back the shadows that concealed the looming fortress from the view of the barely recognisable Royal Mile. The castle’s aged, yet majestic, grandeur became more and more prevalent as the healing light exposed its flawed and fragmented exterior. The blackened stone embraced the tall turrets as if trying to hide the sordid red walls that painted the castle; secrets that ran deep beneath the haggard stone and seeped into the cobbled street of the Mile.

The once impenetrable Datekyo Castle, in all its revered power and splendour, tainted the entire city and its inhabitants. Whispers of deceit, treason, and plague slipping passed well guarded gates, through the sleeping city and into its forgotten underground pit.

It’s only now as he is at the cusp of adulthood that Tsukishima Kei truly understands.

He takes in the scarred and broken walls of the once great Northern defence. He raises a pale skinned hand and runs his long fingers over the shattered remains. He closes his honey eyes and listens as the walls whisper of the lives that once lived within the once great City. 

They tell him of past Kings and their queens; both just as they could be cruel.

They tell him of old merchants who lined their carts up and down the Mile; the echoes of their voices reverberating through the ruined city as they sold their goods to only those who could afford it. Bargaining and trading away their livelihoods as if their very existence depended on it.

In some cases, they did.

But, the walls also speak of mockery and descension.

The agonised cries of the poor who were unable to afford the goods at their disposal. The plights of thieves and beggars as they struggled to even breathe without fear. The pure, unadulterated, fear that one day they would be forced beneath the city.

To be discarded and forgotten by time.

Suffocated by the treacherous decisions of the leaders that lead them.

“Oi, Tsukki,” A soft, yet teasing voice cut through the somewhat frosty air; forcing his eyes to open in slight annoyance, “You know finding artefacts would be much easier if you didn’t have your eyes closed.”

Kei scowled softly and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in false annoyance,

“Shut up Yamaguchi.”

He dropped his hands from where they were placed on what remained of the once proud castle and raised an eyebrow at his chuckling friend. Yamaguchi was lucky that he was considered his best friend at this point; if it was anyone else, they would have faced his ire long ago. He pinched the bridge of his nose and adjusted his thick, black framed glasses as he turned to face his companion. 

Yamaguchi was standing a few meters away from him; the cold snow brushing the soles of his shoes and scattering amongst his chestnut coloured tresses. His arms were laying loosely at his sides, his gloved hands tucked deeply into his coat pockets in an effort to protect them from the cold. Although it seemed as though a small, wistful smile had overcome his friend’s face, Kei couldn’t help but notice the look didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“What’s with that face?” The blond pursed his lips, “You look like you just served a game winning serve straight into the volleyball net.”

Yamaguchi looked at him for a moment; his hazel eyes sweeping over him before finally registering what Kei had actually said. Kei smirked to himself as he noticed the bright red blush engulfing his childhood friend’s cheeks making his freckles borderline luminescent. 

“Ts-Tsukki!”

The blond felt his scowl deepen on his face, and he fought the urge to roll his eyes in exasperation. Although an expected response, something about the delivery didn’t seem right. Kei let his gaze linger on Yamaguchi a moment longer; taking in his slightly stiff posture and almost distant look, when he was pulled out of his thoughts by Yamaguchi’s inquisitive voice.

“What is it that we’re even looking for anyways?”

Kei resisted the urge to face-palm,

“Were you listening to  _ anything  _ that Takeda-sensei said to us this morning?”

The brunet practically pouted as he folded his own arms across his bundled chest; muttering under his breath,

“It’s not easy to listen when you’re half asleep...”

Kei sighed loudly and fiddled with his gloves before pushing his glasses up in a more balanced position,

“Well if someone didn’t stay up so late talking with...”

“I  _ told you _ ,” Yamaguchi cut him off; his cheeks bright red once more, “I’m not seeing anyone.”

The blond clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and turned away from his friend’s imploring gaze,

“Whatever. It’s not like I care either way.”

In that moment it felt as though a heavy weight descended upon the childhood friends. Kei exhaled loudly before turning away from Yamaguchi to start searching through the ruins for hints of the ancient civilisation of Datekyo. He could feel Yamaguchi’s gaze burning into his back, but he simply ignored it. 

After all, he meant it. 

He didn’t care if Yamaguchi was dating someone. He could talk to whoever he wanted; it’s not like the brunet’s entire life centered entirely around him. Even if it felt like that sometimes. It’s been a little over ten years since he had first stumbled into the small town of Torono in the Miyagi Prefecture. Ten long years since Yamaguchi’s family found him sitting in an alleyway, not remembering where he came from or how he got there. The only things he did know were his name and that he was alone because his mother was dead and his brother was taken away from him.

If anything Yamaguchi was closer to being his brother than his friend. After all, if it weren’t for the Yamaguchis he would probably still be wandering aimlessly alone. Or, if he was to be completely truthful with himself, he would probably be dead or worse.

Ten. Years.

Kei felt the corner of his lip twitch as he wandered a little farther from Yamaguchi; trailing his fingers along the cracked wall next to him. Yamaguchi was more than allowed to keep his secrets. He had already shared so much of his life with Kei and he would forever be grateful. But that didn’t mean that Yamaguchi’s secrecy didn’t hurt.

“Tsukki.”

“ _ What  _ Tadashi?”

He turned his head towards the brunet and narrowed his eyes at him; daring him to press something that he knew better than to do. Kei prepared himself for Yamaguchi’s onslaught of needless reassurance and questioning when skimmed over the back of his neck. His dancing fingers moving across the broken stone hummed with the echo of a familiar energy. He immediately straightened and ignored Yamaguchi in favour of the pulsing force that was calling him towards the ruins of the castle.

Where he was standing just moments before.

He walked towards the broken gates and raised his hands once more; hesitating for a moment only to pull off his gloves and allow the tops of his bare skin to brush against the rusted iron grooves. The one sturdy iron had turned slightly orange with cold and decay. Just as harsh as the environment that surrounded it.

His icy fingertips were about to make contact with the metal, the very air around him tense with anticipation, when he felt deceptively strong hands grasp around his wrist. He turned his head expecting to see Yamaguchi when his eyes met that of a beggar woman, though he had to look down a good distance to do so, covered in various shawls and tattered clothing. Her age couldn’t be easily defined, but her hollow cheeks told him of how malnourished the woman was. 

“Tsukki--” The sound of snow crunching against the frozen earth met his ears as he saw Yamaguchi take a concerned step towards him. Only stopping when the woman’s brisk and broken voice echoed around them.

“A beautiful golden light engulfs you,” She whispered, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Kei felt a chill race down his spine from her utterance and tried to pull away, but the old woman’s grip only seemed to get tighter; surprisingly, he was unable to move even an inch. The woman’s eyes, the colour of liquid sunshine, stared deeply into his. A smile spread across her lips as the blond teen stopped fighting against her grip.

“W-What are you talking about?” He demanded nervously; even if he tried to mask it with haughtiness, “Let go.”

The woman shook her head in denial and pulled Kei closer to her causing him to have to bend down due to her height in comparison to his own,

“No, this golden light is special; it holds great power.” The woman stated plainly, “The power of time, emotion and of life itself; a truly  _ magnificent gift _ fit for one such as yourself.”

Kei scowled and pulled on his arm once more; swallowing down the unease that swelled in his lower stomach,

“Didn’t you hear what I said? Let. Me Go.”

The woman ignored him and continued to stare into his honey brown orbs. Her golden gaze searching his as if looking for something that only he would be able to answer. Kei nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw yet another hand land on top of the woman’s, but relaxed as he immediately recognised the black gloved hand as Yamaguchi’s. 

“Listen, miss,” Yamaguchi swallowed thickly; his shoulders trembling slight, “Please...please can this…”

The woman’s omnipotent smile dimmed at his stuttering words; an almost remorseful scowl sweeping her aged, yet ageless, face,

“I must free his spirit from the ties that bind it; you understand that this is how it must be.”

Kei stared at his childhood friend in confusion; did Yamaguchi? No. There was no way that...

Yamaguchi closed his eyes tightly; his face scrunching up as though he was trying to hold back tears. Kei almost tossed a brash statement in his direction, to gain his attention, only for the words to completely die on his lips when Yamaguchi’s grip on the woman’s hand disappeared and instead clenched into fists.

“I, I understand.”

It was only then that Kei realised that the sun that had been shining on their shoulders had started to become obscured by overhanging clouds and the light snow that was dancing around them had started to pick into a mighty flurry. He found himself staring fearfully into the eyes of the old woman standing in front of him despite himself. He felt  _ something _ begin to hum beneath his veins as the old beggar woman tightened her grip on his forearm so that she could yank his coat sleeve upwards; revealing the underside of his pale skin to the cold, late winter air.

Kei turned his gaze towards Yamaguchi; trying to catch his eyes, only for the hazel green orbs to look resolutely away,

“T-Tadashi....”

The brunet seemed to stare at him for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders uselessly. Kei’s lung shuddered as the betrayal and confusion took root underneath his skin. Kei couldn’t help but shrink his tall stature into himself as his friend, his brother, refused to meet his eyes. Refused to help him. Who was this person standing in the place of Yamaguchi Tadashi? Because it sure as hell was not the boy who stood by his side for the last ten years.

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi’s voice trailed off; ending in almost a choke, “Kei, I…”

Kei pursed his lips; his shoulders sagging in defeat,

“Shut up Tadashi.”

Yamaguchi flinched as though he had been struck; his slight shorter frame caving in on itself at Kei’s declaration. The betrayal was so potent on Kei’s tongue that Yamaguchi could no doubt feel the words burning across his skin. The blond could not bring himself to care. He was so lost in the pain and confusion swirling around inside of him that he nearly forgotten the woman baring the vulnerable underside of his forearm to the world.

Then it hit.

A shrill, piercing, pain broke through his skin causing a roar-like scream to tear through the air; forcing Kei to his knees. He tried fruitlessly to pull his arm from the woman’s grip, but her fingers only seemed to tighten and the pain intensified. Kei’s mouth dropped open in a soundless scream; soundless only for the fact that he wouldn’t have been able to hear his own voice over the sound that was assailing his brain.

“I’m sorry Kei,” Somehow Yamaguchi’s voice seemed to be able to break through the sound’s noiseless barrier; broken in all the ways that Kei was falling apart, “I’m so sorry.”

Kei felt his teeth gnawing into his bottom lip as he tried to keep in his screams. His half-lidded gaze swept the area around them and again he felt the presence from earlier. Only this time, the presence was much more demanding; almost oppressive.He swallowed back a whimper and tried to get himself to focus. Through his swimming vision he could see the gates of the dilapidated castle looming before him. 

The ringing was even starting to move from his head down into his chest; making a counter rhythm to his own beating heart. Kei grimaced painfully and tried to swallow back the pain, as he had done many a time before, but if anything, it made it ten times worse. He hadn’t even realised that he had collapsed completely onto the ground, his forehead pressed against the blistering snow, until Yamaguchi had suddenly thrown himself on top of him. Imitating a shield that would protect him from any aerial attack.

“Kei” Yamaguchi’s voice shouted above the ringing in his mind; almost completely smothering it completely, “Relax, you need to stop fighting it.”

Kei sluggishly raised his head, and noticed that a bright golden mark had appeared on his arm glowing brightly. The intricate swirls and sigils started to steadily crawl up his arm and across the side of his face; leaving scorching caresses in its wake. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was panicked, but at the same time, he felt a strong semblance of  _ home _ . Even with the air being pressed from his lungs, Kei raised his opposite hand, that laid uselessly in the snow, and touched the cold iron of the gates; tendrils of light immediately grappled for purchase.

Then he started to burn.

It wasn’t like the burn he’d get in his muscles after he had actually put effort towards a volleyball game.

It wasn’t anything like the burns he would get from spilling the water from his tea kettle on his skin.

It wasn’t even like the burns he gets from the bunsen burners in school if he is just that little bit too slow to move his hands away from the chemical reaction.

No.

This burn was  _ blazing.  _ And it was burning him from the inside out.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?!”

Kei rocked forward slightly as Yamaguchi’s body pressed even closer to his side. Despite this the burning still continued, and his one hand stayed attached to the castle gates, whilst the other was still grasped by the old woman. Only now, he could feel a familiar warmth trying to seep into his joints; trying to unfreeze him and get him to move.

But it was all in vain.

“Goddamnit Tsukki,  _ answer me _ !”

The shout seemed to rattle something in him causing his locked jaw to come unhinged,

“Tadashi?”

A warm exhale brushed against his neck,

“Yeah, it’s me. You’re almost done Tsukki; I promise.”

The blond felt a need to fire back a retort or even push Yamaguchi away, but he couldn’t find the energy to do so. His head fell forward and rested against the metal gate; he felt his air shortening as he did so. Clearly the brunet did as well as he somehow moved enough to wrap a warm hand around the back of his neck and force head up.

“Don’t you dare go to sleep; you need to stay awake.”

All at once Kei felt whatever energy he had leave him. He felt his body completely slump even though his hand was still firmly attached to the gate; it didn’t look like he was getting away anytime soon.

Suddenly, a white light seemed to branch from where his fingers were attached to the gate and pain started to lance up his fingers and across his arm; eventually reaching his chest. The golden marks across his body seemed to glow brightly themselves, sending shockwaves of pain and anguish flooding his system.

Who the pain belonged to, he had absolutely no idea…

All he knew was that it  _ hurt _ and he wanted it to stop.

“Kei!”

For the second time that day he felt the intense heat drape over his back and an even warmer grip clasp over his wrist. A different, yet familiar presence; a support that he had not felt in a long time. He felt his body finally relax and he fell into the white light.


	3. Morning Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kei wakes up, he is no longer at the ruins, but instead at a hospital. He's not 100% sure on how he got there, but one thing is for sure, despite all the questions and accusations he had ready for Yamaguchi, he was nowhere near prepared for this.

_ The morning sun streamed in through the open windows, warming the small, suburban house with a heat that had not been existent for days. He was pretty sure that his fingers and toes were going to fall off! The bright yellow walls were bare, but collections of dust revealed the past existence of pictures, shelves, chairs and other knick-knacks. All that seemed to be left in the room were two small boys, no older than the ages of four and ten; surrounded by thick walls of sealed boxes. _

_ The youngest boy was sitting with his back against one of the walls with his knees brought up to his chest. His curly blond hair hung in his honey brown eyes as he watched his older brother tiptoe towards the front door; the boy’s much taller frame hunched over as far as it could possibly go so he could get a glimpse at what was happening outdoors. _

_ “Aki,” The smaller blond muttered somewhat nervously; fiddling mindlessly with the ears of his plush dinosaur, “Kaa-san said we should stay put.” _

_ The older boy turned to his younger brother; sadness displayed in his mocha brown eyes, _

_ “I know what she said, but she’s been out there a really long time. I just want to see if she’s alright or if she needs any help.” _

_ The younger boy pushed himself to his feet and walked over to his hero with determined eyes, _

_ “I’ll come with you; we can find her together.” _

_ Aki opened his mouth to no doubt argue, when a loud explosion suddenly rocked the house. A small scream was torn from his throat as he was thrown off balance and into Aki’s long legs; his poor dinosaur flying into the air as he was forced to wrap himself around his older brother’s knees to remain on his feet. He was sure that he had seen on TV that they had to get under cover and he was just about to tell his older brother as such.  _

_ Aki wrapped his long arms firmly around his younger brother’s shoulders as the yellow walls seemed to rattle and shake around them. Almost lifting him off the ground until they were both pressed up against the wall. He snuggled his face into Aki’s upper thighs and held on as tight as he possibly could; smothering any whimpers that tried to escape his throat. He had to be strong, just like Aki. Though, as always, it was like Aki was able to sense his distress and had started to comb his fingers through his hair soothingly. _

_ Just when he thought that the shaking would go on forever, it finally came to an end. He swallowed back his tears and looked up at Aki, sniffling loudly as he did so. Aki tossed him a quick reassuring smile and rubbed the back of his head once more. Slowly, he stepped away from his older brother and bent down to gather his fallen dinosaur back into his arms; pressing a soft kiss to the top of its head in apology for dropping him. He’ll have to remember to give sweet Steggy some animal crackers when their Kaa-san… _

_ His eyes widened, _

_ “Aki-nii-san, w-what about kaa-san?” _

_ Aki’s face dropped and all the colour seemed to leave his face. Before he could repeat his question, thinking perhaps Aki hadn’t heard him, the older blond bent forward and placed both his hands on either side of his upper body; lifting him up in the air and coaxing him to wrap his four year old legs around his waist. He frowned slightly at having been lifted up so suddenly, but immediately wrapped his arms around Aki’s neck; his fingers holding tightly to Steggy so that the dinosaur wouldn’t be dropped and left behind. Aki seemingly nodded to himself, coming to some sort of decision, and walked the both of them outside their front door. _

_ One of the first things he noticed as he turned his head to look over his shoulder was that the smooth streets that they used to play on every single day were completely destroyed. They were now layered on top of each other like poorly placed legos. Water and other substances sprouted from each new crack in the road like the water fountains that he would see at the park when he went with Aki and his Kaa-san. He clutched onto his older brother’s neck even tighter as he took in the large crowd of people who stood in the middle of the destruction.  _

_ All their voices were mashing together in a cacophony of unclear sounds; he could feel himself tensing at the abundance of unintelligible noise. He was never really a fan of crowded places. Despite knowing this, Aki pushed his way through the crowd with an unreadable expression.. They pushed themselves to the front of the crowd so that they could get a better look at what everyone was crowded around. _

_ He was suddenly very aware of people trying to grab onto both his brother and himself as they took in the scene that was in front of them. But no matter how long he looked at what was before his eyes, he could not seem to actually register what he was seeing. A mangled corpse of a woman was lying in the middle of the street covered in blood; slabs of asphalt and concrete encasing her body in an immovable coffin.  _

_ He gasped in fear as Aki’s legs gave out from under him as he sank to the destroyed pavement. He recognized who the body on the street was. They both did. The younger boy’s lower lip wobbled and tears pooled in his eyes. He could still distinguish the blonde coloured hair, some of the alabaster skin, the familiar clothes and the wide, unstaring, deep deep brown eyes.  _

_ Bile rose up into the young blond’s throat as he threw up next to his Kaa-san’s body. Tears rained down his cheeks in waves and his body was nearly convulsing from the shock. He felt the presence of his older brother, but he couldn’t actually see him, nor actually hear the words he was saying; if he was actually saying anything at all.  _

_ He was aware of his older brother pulling him into his arms and rocking him back and forth, effectively calming him and making his mind shut down and drift away. Maybe if he just thought about his dinosaurs, strawberry shortcake and that new ball-game his brother taught him, and maybe hugged Steggy and Aki, everything would be okay.  _

_ He heard Aki gasp as quiet sobs started to escape the older boy’s mouth. He reached out to wrap his small arms around his hero, when Aki began muttering something under his breath. The boy tried to listen to what his brother was saying, but it sounded weird and in a voice that he barely recognized. He opened his mouth to ask his brother what he was saying only to be cut off by Aki shakily pushing himself to his feet once more and lifting him into his arms; making sure that his somewhat long legs were again wrapped around the ten year old’s hips. _

_ His larger hand was buried in the younger blond’s curls and long fingers were sifting through the strands comfortingly as he turned his back on the scene and started walking back through the crowd, continuing to mutter under his breath. _

**“Kei...”** A distant voice whispered,  **“Can you hear me?”**

_ Every fibre of his being wanted him to stay there; he was now old enough to actually understand what his long-lost brother was trying to say. Even if his chest ached from reliving his Kaa-san’s death, he wanted to figure out why she died and who killed her. _

**“Kei…”** The voice repeated; a familiar, yet somewhat altered tenor swept across his consciousness.

_ He wanted to keep looking at his older brother; his rock, his saviour. Aki was the reason why he had survived all the years he spent in foster care. If it weren’t for him, Kei probably would’ve died a long time ago. _

_ If only he was old enough to understand what was happening around him; if only he knew why he was moved from house to house as a child. He wanted to know what his mom was afraid of over all those years. Aki seemed to know about it, but he refused to even acknowledge what was happening. He just kept that dumbass smile on his face and pretended that nothing bad was going on around them.  _

_ The only thing Aki did was protect him for all those years in that hell hole that was called his home until he was eight and they were both freed; however, they weren’t freed from the scars that littered their bodies or the scars of betrayal.  _

**“I promise you Kei, I’m not leaving you again…”**

The sound of a continuous beeping is what drew Kei out of his comatose-like sleep. His heavy eyelids opened slightly and he was greeted by a bright fluorescent light shining above him. He flinched away from the bright light as his eyes tried to adjust to his surroundings. His vision was slightly fuzzy, which judging from the absent weight from the bridge of his nose meant his glasses were missing, but he tried to strain his eyes to see if he could make out anything around him.

From what he could tell from the white walls around him, the IV drip running from his arm, and that annoying beeping that continued to pound against his eardrums told him that he was lying in a hospital bed. With slightly shaky arms he tried to push himself into a sitting position, but he suddenly felt arms pushing him back down. He felt his joints lock up from the unexpected contact and his chest tightened when he couldn’t see who was touching him.

“Kei,” A voice whispered, “Calm down, it’s just me.”

The blond turned his head to the left, somewhat straining his neck in the process, and could faintly make out Yamaguchi sitting in a chair next to his bed. A small smile spread across the brunet’s lips when he saw the blond looking over at him. Yamaguchi pushed himself out of his chair stiffly and pulled him into a soft hug; Kei tensed in his arms.

“I’m so happy you’re alright.” He muttered into his ear before pulling away.

Kei looked down at his hands and found himself fiddling with his fingers. He was forced to stop however when a familiar set of black frames were placed on top of them. He wrapped his fingers around the frames and slowly slid them onto his face; averting his honey brown eyes from his childhood friend’s warm gaze. Kei clenched his fists into the sheets of the bed he was lying in as he remembered what happened to bring them to this situation. Datekyo Castle. The ruins. Yamaguchi’s strange behaviour. The old woman. The pain. The bright, white light.  _ That second familiar voice _ . 

He scowled to himself faintly before sighing under his breath. He turned to face Yamaguchi once more and clicked his tongue when his eyes saddened when he looked at him,

“What have you been hiding Tadashi?”

Yamaguchi failed to hide his flinch at the sound of his voice. Kei fought the need to sigh in exasperation and tried to wait for the closest person in his life to gather his thoughts. He found himself fiddling with his fingers again as he waited in the tense silence. He just wished that Yamaguchi would just say whatever was on his mind already. He frowned to himself as he found his thoughts drifting to the events of earlier that day.

His eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully; did that really happen earlier that day? How long has he been here? He assumed that he had to be at some sort of hospital judging by the incessant beeping of the heart monitor. But last he could remember, the ruins of Datekyo Castle were far out of Torono’s town limits, and Takeda-sensei wasn’t meant to send the bus for them for another couple of hours at least. How had Yamaguchi gotten them back all by himself? He was about to ask Yamaguchi that exact question when he was interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

Kei raised his head towards the door and was about to ask whatever nurse it was to come back later when he felt every thought disappear from his head; leaving nothing but an empty void. Mocha eyes gazed into his honey brown ones with relief, worry and joy. He smiled at Kei, but he couldn’t smile back at him; he was just frozen.

“Akiteru,” He whispered; tears pressing at the back of his eyes, “What, I don’t…”

“Kei,” Akiteru smiled reassuringly; moving cautiously from the doorway to stand next to the bed, “I’m so happy to see that you’re awake, I was so worried.”

The older blond reached out to place his hands on Kei’s; long fingers very similar to his own, eager to grasp onto something long forgotten, but forever familiar, only for the younger blond to pull his hands away just as quickly. Kei could feel his heart pounding in his chest like a hare running a race; the oxygen in his lungs getting caught in his trachea on the way in and the carbon dioxide getting trapped on the way out. He tried to force the air out of his body, but if anything his body seemed to shrink in on itself. Folding. Contorting. Swallowing every inch of him that remained.

He tugged on his fingers, hoping for some sort of distracting rhythm. Pull the pinky. Breathe in. Pull the ring finger. Breathe out. Pull the middle finger. Breathe in. But no matter how much he tried to establish a rhythm, it was as though his fingers would fumble and he would have to restart. Even the smallest parts of his body rebelled against him as he fought for some semblance of control. 

Every part of his body started to  _ burn _ . 

He knew that not enough was getting to his lungs because he could see a distinct golden white aura swallowing his hands and traveling up his arms. He tried to settle the rhythm again, but if anything the light just kept getting brighter. And brighter. And brighter, And brighter. He could hear the heart monitor in the background reaching a crescendo of noise that would no doubt send a team of doctors barrelling in soon, when suddenly everything seemed to stop.

Kei  _ breathed _ .

It was more of a gasp than anything else, but he breathed in and out. In and out. In...and out… 

The burning that traveled up his arms and throughout his body seemed to dissipate; along with the golden white aura that blanketed his skin. As he was drawn back more and more to himself, he became aware of a slightly calloused hand grabbing onto his tightly. He tracked the olive toned and freckled hand up, a dark green jumper-covered forearm, across a somewhat broad shoulder until he was looking into the all too familiar hazel eyes of his childhood friend.

“Tsukki,” He whispered soothingly; his thumb rubbing over the back of Kei’s hand, “You’re okay, you’re safe.”

The blond swallowed thickly and nodded his head in understanding; pulling his arm away from Yamaguchi’s grip. He bit the corner of his lip and scowled as he felt his face flush slightly in embarrassment. He looked away from Yamaguchi in an attempt to save face only to have his eyes fall on Akiteru once more. The older boy, no man’s, face was pinched and drawn; a deep rooted guilt reflected in his mocha coloured irises. 

“Kei,” He shoved his hands in his pockets; swaying backwards and forwards ever so slightly as though he was unsure as to what he should do next, “I didn’t mean…”

Kei clicked his tongue and glanced away from his brother,

“Whatever, it’s nothing.”

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi admonished, “That wasn’t nothing.”

“Shut up Yamaguchi.” He hissed distastefully; his shoulders rising to touch his ears reflexively. 

“Now Kei,”

“No.” The younger blond turned his burning gaze on his absentee brother, “No, you don’t get to say anything to me.”

Akiteru flinched as though he had been struck and normally, that sort of reaction would have him smiling in satisfaction. But this time, it seemed to hurt him even more. How pathetic. Kei pulled his knees up against his chest and scowled at Yamaguchi and Akiteru; his honey gaze studying them and waiting for their next move. 

“I know you’re upset,” Akiteru tried again; his eyes slightly downcast, but not breaking eye contact, “But you have to try and understand, this isn’t what we wanted…”

“What you wanted?” Kei’s scowl deepened, “You  _ left me _ .”

“Tsukki, he didn’t have a choice.”

“And you,” He turned his gaze to focus solely on Yamaguchi who sunk back into his seat, “What would you know about it? Is this yet another thing you have been hiding Tadashi? First the late night phone calls, then you know that crazy old woman at the ruins, and what, now you’re going to tell me that you’ve been in contact with Akiteru the whole time I’ve known you?”

All that met his accusations was the sound of the heart monitor.

“Unbelievable.”

“Tsukki…”

All the facts were laid out plainly in front of him like a map and they couldn’t be ignored. He wasn’t one to ignore the things that he could see with his own eyes. But this; could he truly believe in something like this? Akiteru’s sigh of frustration pulled him out of his musings and he watched as his older brother ran his fingers through his hair. Even after all this time, Akiteru was still Akiteru.

“Please Kei, you have to understand,” The older man closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose, “We didn’t want to hide anything from you...but you weren’t ready to hear it yet.”

Kei rolled eyes,

“Hear what? That the two people I loved most in the world conspired against me?”

“It wasn’t like that.” Akiteru reiterated, “We had to protect you; even if that meant from yourself.”

“Oh please, that’s a little dramatic, even for you.” His scowl deepened distastefully, “How pathetic.”

Akiteru opened his mouth, a response ready to fly off his tongue when the walls of the hospital started to shake around them. Yamaguchi was thrown from the seat he was in and onto his hands and knees whilst Akiteru was sent careening to the side where he had to grab onto the heart monitor machine for balance. Kei instinctively grabbed a hold of the bars surrounding his bed and closed his eyes, drawing his legs even closer to his chest to make himself look impossibly smaller. The ceiling groaned above them before countless tiles shifted and started raining down on them. Kei’s heart pounded loudly in his ears as he threw his arms uselessly above his head in an attempt to protect himself from the falling debris.

He heard Yamaguchi cry out from the floor and was pretty sure that he also heard a loud crash and a curse as Akiteru no doubt threw himself to the side. The blood pounding in his ears seemed to get even louder as worry for the assholes who lied to him engulfed his very being. He may be pissed off and annoyed at them for keeping secrets, but he still loved them; no matter how much he wanted to deny it. He cried out as he felt his arms burn in a way that he was getting all too familiar with; only this time he tried to push the pain  _ outwards _ and through his skin.

Kei’s eyes snapped open to see a golden light blossom out of his pale skin and blanket the entire room. Tendrils of golden ligaments stretched outwards and pressed against the trembling walls of the room; offering extra stability and support. Meanwhile, a much more dense umbrella-like golden aura stretched towards the ceiling; shielding Akiteru, Yamaguchi and Kei himself from any other falling debris. His eyes widened as he glanced down at his arms and saw intricate golden swirls dancing up his forearms and around his elbows.

“What the…” He stuttered as the room slowly stopped shuddering, “I don’t understand.”

Almost as soon as it was sure that its job was done, the golden tendrils of light receded from the walls and ceiling; slowly drawing back beneath Kei’s skin. He stared wide-eyed as the golden designs on his arms disappeared from his skin as well; leaving them looking as pale and ordinary as before. 

_ “This golden light is special; it holds great power.” The woman stated plainly, “The power of time, emotion and of life itself; a truly magnificent gift fit for one such as yourself.” _

“Is this what the old woman was talking about?” He muttered to himself, turning his palms towards himself and away from himself to see if they would look any different.

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi whispered; straightening his clothes as he pushed himself to his feet, “That was...amazing.”

“I…”

“We have to get out of here.” Akiteru cut him off; stumbling towards the heart monitor and switching it off hastily as Kei had only noticed the consistent drone of the machine signalling that he was in some sort of distress. He glanced down at the clip attached to his right finger and noticed that it had become charred and blackened.

Before Kei could even say otherwise, Akiteru tossed him his street clothes from earlier that day – he fought back the blush that spread across his face as he realized that he was wearing one of those stupid hospital gowns – and exited the room, with Yamaguchi closely on his heels, to stand outside the door. He changed his clothes as though he were on autopilot only to pause when the IV in his hand was brought to his attention.

Now that was a tad problematic.

He must have been taking too long for Akiteru’s taste because the older man came rushing back in the room only to pause when he noticed that Kei was only half dressed.

“Kei, we need to get going now. Why are you hesitating?”

The blond scowled at his brother’s persistence and the all too familiar gleam that echoed in his eyes. That fire might not have been extinguished by  _ that place, _ but it was still something that Kei attributed to the suffering that was brought upon the both of them. It was that confidence and spirit that took everything.

Clearly believing that Kei was not going to move on his own, Akiteru all but ran to his side and made quick work of the IV and wires that were attached to him. Kei grit his teeth from the sting of the IV being torn from his vein and sucked briefly on the surface of his hand when it started to bleed. Of course he was forced to stop when Akiteru also took it upon himself to grab Kei’s hoodie out of his hands and pull it over his head for him – displacing his glasses in the process.

“Nii-san,” Kei ground out sternly, “Why are you making such a big deal about this? Why do we have to run out of here all of a sudden; it was just an earthquake.”

“Yeah, and the golden light was all a trick caused by the horrible lighting in the room.” 

Akiteru grabbed onto his hand and pulled him out of the bed and towards the door without looking back. Yamaguchi and Akiteru led him through the sterile halls; the elder holding onto his wrist tightly.

“Nii-san?” He demanded rather impatiently, “What’s going on?”

The older blond sighed in frustration,

“Kei, we really don’t have time right now.”

The blond bristled at his brother’s sharp tone and was about to argue when a sickening feeling seemed to drift toward him. He could feel his insides churning restlessly as he felt some sort of presence press upon his shoulders. His eyebrows furrowed as he realised that the hospital was strangely empty and intact considering the earthquake that had occurred only moments ago. He focused on keeping up with Akiteru and Yamaguchi; the brunet had moved farther ahead and was looking around the corner in front of them. Akiteru moved as closely behind Yamaguchi as they possibly could get; Kei curled his fist at his side.

“Tell me what’s going on,” He demanded again; attempting to dig his heels in, “Now.”

Akiteru ignored him and continued to drag him down the hall and around the corner. Kei could feel his anger building up inside him and was about to retort when the darkness he was feeling intensified. He could feel the darkness shooting towards them like a rocket; murderous intent amplified into his mind.

Out of instinct Kei ripped his arm out of Akiteru’s hand and pushed the older man against the wall, with strength he did not know that he possessed, while he dropped to the floor. A bright green light shot over him and smashed into the wall at the end of the corridor causing it to explode into a million pieces. The debris flew towards the two brothers at high speeds prompting Kei to cover his head protectively.

Surprisingly, nothing hit him.

Kei lifted his head cautiously and he felt his mouth drop open in disbelief. A shield of pure orange light erected itself like a wall in front of his body and the debris was scattered on the floor behind it. Yamaguchi Tadashi was standing protectively in front of him, his hands brought together in some sort of sign with a strange symbol hovering in front of his face.

“Yamaguchi?” Kei stuttered, “What the hell…”

The symbol in front of his best friend faded into nothing. Yamaguchi reached out his hand to Kei where he lay on the floor staring up at him in disbelief. When Kei didn’t move, his freckled friend shook his head somewhat fondly before he took it upon himself to wrap his hand around Kei’s and pulled him to his feet.

“Run!” He ordered as he took off, with Kei’s hand still in his, down the hallway; Akiteru trailing close behind.

Only they didn’t manage to get very far when another bolt of green light struck the tile right in front of Yamaguchi’s path causing the three of them to slide into each other as they tried to stop momentum. It was honestly a miracle that they managed to stay on their feet. Before Kei could even begin to process what was happening, he was nudged backwards and found himself staring at the backs of both Yamaguchi and Akiteru as they guarded him.

This was something that he had never expected to see. Well, Akiteru made sense; he pulled protective stuff like this all the time when they were younger. Who he was surprised by was Yamaguchi. Ever since Kei had met him, he was the one who had to protect Yamaguchi. Be it from his own shadow. Be it from bullies picking on him because of the freckles on his cheeks. Kei was the one who stood in front of Yamaguchi and scared off any attackers through intimidation alone.

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi’s serious voice snapped him out of his thoughts, “You need to keep running.”

But here his best friend was…the scaredy cat known for running away…he was standing…he was going to fight…

“Kei,” Yamaguchi grabbed his attention once more; his arm spread out to the side and his hazel eyes did not leave the shadow that appeared in front of them through the debris and carnage, “You need to run, Aki-nii and I will handle this.”

Kei wanted to listen to the younger teen, but he couldn’t; it was like he was frozen in place. His eyes couldn’t move away from the person standing across from them. The man standing across from them was tall, though probably not as tall as Kei himself, and dark hair that was mostly slicked back except for some bangs that hung over one of his snake-like eyes.

Under normal circumstances, Kei would not have been afraid. Even now, the rational part of his mind was taking the time to tell him that the man was most likely a poser who talked big, but had nothing to back it up. But what scared him the most was the sadistic smirk on the man’s face and the murderous glare the man’s dark gaze was shooting, not at Yamaguchi or Akiteru, but at Kei.

Now, don’t be mistaken. Kei was very aware that he could be an incorrigible bastard and that he might like pushing other people’s buttons maybe a little too much. But he knew for a fact that he had never seen this person before in his life. So he had absolutely no idea what this guy’s issue was. He fought the urge to shrink in on himself as the man’s eyes dissected him.

“Ah,” The man smirked slyly, “It’s been a long time hasn’t it? I was beginning to wonder if this day would ever truly come.”

When no one said anything, the man cackled:

“Don’t be so tense, I’m only here to see that the young Light here has the chance to be what he was always meant to be.”

Kei’s honey eyes narrowed in confusion and his stomach swam in apprehension,

“What…”

“Kei,” Akiteru warned, “Don’t listen to a word that bastard says.”

“Oh c’mon Tsukishima-san,” A green glow began to gather in the man’s hands; his eyes still never leaving Kei’s, “Don’t you want to tell him where his powers come from? Doesn’t he deserve to know why he has the Light that he has or do you want him to be left in the dark?”

It would be a lie if he didn’t say that he wasn’t curious. Kei wanted to know what was happening to him, but he trusted this man in front of him only as far as he could throw him and judging by the man’s size that wouldn’t be too far. Even with everything that happened between himself and Akiteru in the past, he trusted his older brother to tell him the truth. But at the same time, he felt that Akiteru would withhold information to keep him safe; that’s just who he was.

Kei was regrettably torn and that terrified him to no end; it made him think that he saw his own brother as a complete stranger and, in a sense, he was. At the same time, the green light that the man held seemed painfully familiar and extremely dark; so dark, that it made him sick to his stomach.

“Shut the fuck up Daishou,” Akiteru growled, “I won’t let you take him.”

“That makes two of us.” Yamaguchi nodded his head resolutely.

The man, Daishou, smiled with his teeth barred dangerously,

“I’m not sure how well Tokai would be willing to accept that.”

Kei felt his legs give out from under him as the man’s name reverberated through his already confused mind. A memory, long suppressed, surged to the forefront of his mind; bloodied words next to his Kaa-san’s body. He closed his eyes in deep concentration, recreating the dreadful memory block by block. He was always considered to be smart – it was time that he had finally put his brain to use. After a few moments his eyes snapped open; the message fully re-made in his mind.

_ Tokai. Keep him safe. _

“Kaa-san.”

Akiteru flinched as if he had been struck,

“Kei…”

“Nii-san, he’s the one who killed Kaa-san wasn’t he…”

The older male nodded his head slightly and the younger blond felt something in his chest shatter,

“S-She died because of me?”

Akiteru and Yamaguchi glanced back at him, the staring contest finally broken, and Kei could tell instantly that they felt the need to pull him into his arms and tell him that it wasn’t his fault. Despite the fact that both of them are completely aware that hugs and physical affection were not his forte. Their eyes were forced to snap back to Daishou when the man burst into laughter that shook the halls.

“Of course she died because of you,” He smiled, “If you weren’t such a monster, she wouldn’t have had to die.”

“How dare you,” Yamaguchi growled and quickly drew a symbol into the air, “Tsukki is not the monster here Daishou, you are.”

Suddenly, an orange force field appeared in front of Yamaguchi and without hesitation he plunged his hand into it. In mere moments, his hand came back out his hand wrapped tightly around a quiver and bow.

Daishou’s laughter struck the air again,

“You honestly something like that is going to stop me?”

“Maybe not alone,” Akiteru stated, “Don’t forget that I’m still here asshole.”

Kei watched with wide eyes as Akiteru was swallowed by a pale silver light and Yamaguchi readied his bow.

He didn’t even know Yamaguchi could touch a bow, let alone shoot one. Just how much was Yamaguchi hiding from him? For how long? Those secret phone calls and that old beggar woman were truly just the icing on the strawberry cake.

“Let’s have some fun.” Yamaguchi smirked slightly as he released his arrow.

Kei watched in almost a trance-like state as that one single arrow shot towards Daishou; whose green light had been getting stronger and stronger by the moment.

There was absolutely no way that this was going to work.

The thought hadn’t even completely crossed his mind when the arrow was suddenly engulfed in the same pale silver light that had enveloped Akiteru; and it didn’t stop there. As soon as the light swallowed the arrow entirely, it quivered slightly before suddenly, that lone arrow became over one hundred – all of them shooting towards Daishou who was staring at the impending attack with wide eyes.

The attack struck home like a barrage of bullets and caused smoke and more debris to spray into the hallway effectively blocking the three of them from view. With Daishou briefly distracted, Akiteru and Yamaguchi each ran to Kei, grabbed a hand, and pulled him to his feet. He was really getting sick of freezing up and having to be dragged everywhere.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Countless green beams broke through the man-made smoke screen and struck Akiteru in the shoulder sending them off balance and colliding with the ground. Kei grunted as he struggled to his knees once more; breathing and coughing heavily in an effort to clear the dust out of his lungs.

Yamaguchi had rolled after impact and was rising to his knees on the other side of the hall. Kei noted that although his best friend was a little on the dusty side, he seemed to be alright. Akiteru on the other hand was curled in on himself with blood drooling sluggishly from his shoulder.

Kei crawled over to his brother and raised his hands; his finger shaking slightly as he tried to figure out what he could possibly do to help. As much as he hated being useless, there was only so much that he could do in this situation. He cursed under his breath and closed his eyes when he felt something tug in his lower abdomen; a warmth brushing against his skin as it gained luminescence. He smiled crookedly to himself and was about to try and touch Akiteru’s shoulder, because he felt that was what he needed to do, when Akiteru shakily grabbed Kei’s hands and pushed them away,

“Don’t.”

“Nii-san.” Kei scowled at his brother, “Stop being difficult.”

“I’ll be fine,” Akiteru grunted as he pushed himself onto his knees and he held his shoulder, “You’ll end up hurting yourself.”

Kei clicked his tongue in annoyance when Daishou’s laughter erupted through the smoke. Akiteru immediately pulled Kei so that he sat behind his older brother and out of the line of fire. With the older blond distracted by Daishou, the younger teen hastily called upon the golden light that had been unconsciously singing in his veins through the entire altercation and held his hands over Akiteru’s damaged shoulder. Smiling smugly to himself as the golden light latched its tendrils onto the bloody appendage and started leeching the pain and blood out of sight.

“Kei!” Akiteru barked as the warmth of the light bathed over his shoulder, “What did I tell you?!”

“I know what you told me,” Kei snapped; his eyes narrowed in focus, “I didn’t listen to you when you were around, and I’m not going to listen to you now.”

Daishou laughed again and aimed another beam at the two brothers. Akiteru pushed Kei out of the way and then jumped from the line of fire. However, he reacted too soon and Daishou changed his aim towards Kei.

Kei sat frozen as the green light headed straight at him. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and the blood pounding in his ears. He could hear Yamaguchi’s running footsteps and his brother’s voice screaming his name, but he couldn’t make his muscles move. He closed his eyes expecting the impact, only for it to never land. Kei opened his eyes and was surprised to see another person standing in front of him; someone who was not Yamaguchi or Akiteru.

The man had dark black jeans, a red t-shirt and a black leather jacket. What was even more surprising to him was the man’s hairstyle; if you could even call that a style? Did the dumbass just roll out of bed or something?

The mystery man’s palms were facing towards Daishou and a barrage of water had attacked the green beam just moments before it touched Kei. Steam and vapor started rising into the air; a chaotic dance through the destruction. The man turned to Kei with a relieved smirk placed firmly on his tanned face. His cat-like golden brown eyes seemed to spark and flare despite the water that had just shot out of his hands and Kei couldn’t help but be drawn to them.

“Sorry we were late Akiteru, Freckles,” He laughed as he ran his hand through his hair, “The train was a bitch.”


	4. Mid-Morning Dew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo Tetsurou may have saved his life. He may have saved all their lives. But that didn't mean that the bed-headed, snarky, over-confident water bender deserved any ounce of Kei's respect. No matter how impressive he may think he is.

Kei stared at the man standing before him with his mouth hanging open. A faint whispering of Yamaguchi-kaa-san’s teasing voice chuckling about how if he didn’t close his mouth quick enough, flies were going to move in floated in and out of his consciousness unwelcomingly. The blond glanced from the stranger to Akiteru to Yamaguchi, and finally back to the stranger to see that he still had that dumb smirk on his face. He then turned to the dumbfounded and very pissed off Daishou who had, until only moments ago, looked as if he was only moments away from success. Now he looked like a toddler who had their favourite taken from them on the playground.

“Kuroo Tetsurou.” Daishou spat; his eyes narrowed dangerously as a green aura covered his hands, “I should have known you would be slinking around.”

The raven haired man, Kuroo, smiled haughtily and tilted his chin up; staring down his nose at their adversary. His hands rested casually at his sides; one hand even raising up only to slide into the front of his jean pocket. Kuroo cocked his hip to the side and tilted his head so that it looked as though he was watching Daishou through his dark hair.

“There’s nothing I love more than kicking your ass Suguru,” Kuroo raised a finely groomed dark eyebrow, “Would you truly expect anything less?”

The snake-like man frowned; his hands curling at his sides like a viper waiting for the right moment to strike,

“And there’s that overconfident nature I love so much. When will you ever learn.”

Kei barely had time to react before Daishou once again flicked his arms forward; dark green lightning energy crackling through the air as it rocketed towards the bed-headed raven. Kuroo threw his hands in front of him once more with ease; water immediately springing from the fissures created by Daishou’s initial attacks. Kei watched soundlessly as Kuroo swirled his palms in a rhythmic motion; seamlessly commanding the water to act as a barricade between the green flash of light and them. 

“All of you Guardians are  _ so predictable _ .”

Daishou smirked as the lightning forked dangerously into multiple directions; jumping around the aquatic shield and striking the already damaged walls and linoleum flooring. Instinctively, Kei found himself raising his hands over his head to hide from the arcs of energy once more; only this time the supposed power in his veins remained silent. Instead, he watched as Yamaguchi hastily erected another wall of orange light out of the corner of his eye; shielding all four of them from the attack.

“Yeah, and so are you.” Kuroo smirked dangerously as he pressed a hand to Yamaguchi’s orange shield, “Let’s see about making this more annoying for you.”

Kei’s eyes widened as tendrils of frost and ice started to branch out from the palm of Kuroo’s hand; leeching the orange out of Yamaguchi’s attack and turning it an opaque, crystalline blue. Not only that, but the shield seemed to be expanding up towards the ceiling and cementing itself against the tiles and the remaining walls. He watched as Kuroo released a breath that he didn’t even know the raven was holding; a white fog belying how cold the man actually was. The raven turned away from the wall of ice and shook his head slightly allowing small crystal flakes to fall from his dark hair. 

“Good luck breaking this down Suguru!” Kuroo shouted teasingly; pulling the bottom of his eyelid down and sticking his tongue out. 

Kei rolled his eyes at the raven’s childishness and pushed himself to his feet. He dusted some of the debris off of his clothing while he tried to teach himself how to breathe again. The anxiety that was building in his stomach slowly started to ease. 

“Kuroo,” Akiteru pressed a finger to his temple and sighed loudly; walking forward until he was standing just behind Kei’s shoulder, “Was that really necessary?”

Kuroo turned away from the wall of ice and grinned slyly,

“I’d say so. It got us out didn’t it?”

Kei raised an eyebrow as Akiteru looked to the ceiling as if he were trying to ask the very gods what he had done to deserve something like this. And quite honestly, it should be  _ him _ asking that, not his older brother who had called everything upon himself in the first place. Truly, this was getting ridiculous.

“So, is anyone going to explain what’s going on?”

Kuroo eyebrows furrowed,

“Explain.”

“Yes.” Kei emphasised emphatically, “Explain. What, did you eviscerate whatever brain cells you had left?”

The raven haired man turned towards Akiteru and Yamaguchi; a frown pulling on the corner of his lips,

“Did you two not tell him  _ anything _ ?”

Akiteru scowled back in response,

“If you hadn’t noticed, we’ve had our hands full.”

“Had your…” Kuroo’s frown deepened and he crossed his arms over his chest, “Don’t hide behind your excuses Tsukishima. You only had one…”

Akiteru’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he took a step toward Kuroo; fists clenched at his side. Kei’s eyes widened as Yamaguchi had to physically grab a hold of Akiteru’s arm to prevent him from taking another step. He never would have pegged his brother to resort to taking a swing at anyone who didn't deserve it. Even then, he was always a bit of a pacifist and preferred to talk things through rather than throw a punch. Sure, he had just seen his brother try and fight off some guy who is somehow related to the death of their mother, but he had never raised an actual hand against someone before. Until now.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about Kuroo.”

Kuroo stared at him evenly; his face not giving anything away. The raven haired water bender opened his mouth only to be cut off completely by a loud creak and groan. Kei swallowed as he slowly turned to face the impenetrable ice wall that Kuroo summoned through the help of Yamaguchi. Hairline fractures had started to skitter across the glass surface; protesting as bang after bang started to sound from behind the slowly thinning wall. 

“Shit. We need to go, now.”

Before Kei could even properly process Kuroo’s voice, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his lower waist and his feet had suddenly left the ground. He choked back a squeal behind clenched teeth and scowled darkly at the leather clad back before his gaze. All curses that could possibly come to mind being hurled at the raven mentally. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He hissed dangerously; struggling fruitlessly in the man’s tight grip, “Do you have a death wish? Put me down”

The raven snorted and patted the back of Kei’s thighs teasingly,

“No can do princess. We need to get out of here and you seem like the stubborn type.”

Kei’s scowl deepened further as he felt his cheeks ignite,

“ _ Princess _ .”

“Kuroo-san,” Yamaguchi sighed in exasperation; the corner of his lips twitching slightly as he released Akiteru’s arm, “Now’s not really the time to annoy Tsukki.”

The raven cackled as he threw a mock salute in the brunet’s direction,

“Don’t mind, don’t mind Freckles; I know what I’m doing...plus when an opportunity presents itself...”

Kei’s eyes narrowed,

“And  _ what  _ opportunity would that be, Kuroo-san?”

A chill swept down his spine when he turned his head to skewer Kuroo with one of his trademarked death glares (patent-pending) and was met with blazing gold. The intelligent cat-like gaze stared into his honey brown irises as though he was picking him apart bit by bit. Kei could only look into the raven’s eyes for so long until he was forced to break eye contact; a red flush spreading across his cheeks and down the back of his neck in pure embarrassment. 

“Neh Tsukki, you need to loosen up more.” Kuroo teased as he turned on his heel and started to run in the opposite direction of the ice wall; Daishou’s enraged screams followed them as they turned the nearest corner.

But more importantly…

Kei smacked the back of Kuroo’s head with the back of his hand,

“Don’t call me Tsukki. My name’s Tsukishima.”

Seemingly not phased by the hit, Kuroo whined petulantly under his breath,

“But Tsukki suits you so much more.”

Kei clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in response and instead tried struggling again to signal that he wanted to be let down. His annoyance deepened further when all that seemed to do was make Kuroo hold onto his waist even tighter; preventing from making the slightest of movements and possibly from knocking them both to the ground and smacking his head on the floor. Whilst he should probably be thankful for that kindness, it honestly just pissed him off all the more. Clearly the bed-headed asshole didn’t know how to take a hint.

“Hey,” Akiteru called as he ran so that he was now beside him; all anger from just moments previous having seemingly disappeared, “Are the others here too?”

“They’ll be arriving within the hour,.” Kuroo smiled, “We’ll leave Torono right as soon as we meet up; we need to get Tokai and his followers off our trail so that we can regroup”

“Leave Torono?” Kei repeated dubiously; craning his neck to get a better look at Yamaguchi or his brother, “What do you mean  _ leave _ ?”

“It’s not safe anymore for you here Kei,” Akiteru reasoned softly, “We need to get you as far away from here as possible.”

“ _ Why _ ?” The younger blond stated forcefully; smacking the back of Kuroo’s head repeatedly, “and put me down or I’m going to hit you so hard that your ridiculous hair will lie flat!”

The raven once again laughed at him before slowing down to a stop before putting the younger teen on his feet,

“Wow Tsukishima, you never said that your brother was this feisty.”

Kei tugged on his fingers in frustration and stormed towards the nearest exit; a small grouping of trees barely noticeable through the thin windows in the doorway. At this point he didn’t care that there was a raving lunatic running around the hospital looking for him; he wanted to get as far away from his brother, best friend (if he could even still refer to Yamaguchi as such), and the bedhead as he could. This was all getting way out of hand and he was, to put it simply, sick of it.

He was only paused in his escape by a calloused hand latching onto his wrist halting his movement. Kei’s heart started to pound restlessly in his chest and a familiar burn started to push through his skin only for a sense of calmness, security and warmth to douse the growing inferno. Ever so slowly, the tingling in his fingertips had started to recede, and his heart had started to calm. His angered and annoyed thoughts even seemed to settle as he stood almost in a docile fogue before his escape.

He released a surprisingly calm breath and looked back at the three people standing behind him. Kuroo was the one holding onto his wrist. His golden eyes staring at him with something akin to sympathy and understanding. Even as Kuroo rubbed his thumb along the underside of Kei’s wrist, a sense of serenity seemed to blanket over him. From the left, Akiteru was looking at him with a mixture of apprehension and fear, while next to him Yamaguchi was regarding him almost sadly. 

Reluctantly, Kei yanked his arm out of the stranger’s grip and his anger slowly started simmering in his chest all over again. He schooled somewhat of an indifferent expression on his face.Indifference was his security blanket – the one thing he could turn to when he felt as though his whole world was falling apart.

“Now that I finally have your attentions, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?” He muttered, “I am tired of running around like a chicken with its head cut off towards its execution.”

Once again silence seemed to reign. Kei looked from a set of brown eyes to a set of hazel to a set of goldish-amber and back again waiting for one of them to answer. He clenched his fists at his side as they all continued to stare at him with an almost blank stare on their faces.

“Tch,” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from them, “This is ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous, huh?” The raven smirked as he rubbed the back of his neck, “That’s an interesting way of looking at the situation.”

Kei rolled his eyes and started to tug at his fingers absently.

“Listen, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi waved his hands calmly, “it’s neither the time nor place for us to explain everything; it’s a very long story, and...”

“If you’re not going to say anything useful, then just shut up Yamaguchi.”

The brunet flinched as though he had been struck; the once gentle reminder or friendly jibe now a death sentence. Akiteru had caught onto the connotation as well, as the older blond moved forward to intervene. However, before he could so much as utter a sound, the raven haired man stepped forward and held out his hand. A warm smile was spread across his tanned face and merriment shone in his golden eyes. Kei frowned down at the hand before glancing into the raven’s eyes once more; he really was like an overgrown child.

“The name’s Kuroo, Kuroo Tetsurou.” He introduced himself, “I met your brother and your friend a couple of years ago through an assignment we had to complete.”

Kei hesitated briefly before placing his own hand in Kuroo’s,

“I’m Tsukishima Kei.”

As he was about to retract his hand, Kei’s head and chest burned excruciatingly and images that held no meaning for him started to run through his mind:

_ A small boy with raven hair around the age of four or five was sitting in a forest clearing next to another boy with feline-like features. _

_ “Don’t worry Ken-chan, we’ll get stronger!” _

_ The feline boy nodded his head and hummed in silent agreement. To the untrained eye it would seem as though the boy was trying to appease his friend, but if one were to look close enough they would be able to see fondness in his slitted eyes. _

**_Before he could even question it the scene changed…_ **

_ The same raven haired boy, maybe a few years older now, with the same feline boy learning how to control the Water Element that he possessed. The boy jumped onto his friend’s back with his arms around his neck (despite the fact that he was much bigger) in celebration when he perfected the technique he was practicing. _

_ “Ne, Ken-chan?” The raven jumped off the other boy’s back and ruffled his now blond hair, “Do you think I’ll be able to protect him?” _

_ The other boy shrugged his shoulders and didn’t answer; turning his attention once again to the game that he had in hands. The raven whined from the lack of an answer and continued jumping around asking questions. _

_ The boy didn’t understand why his friend was asking such pointless questions – of course the raven would be strong enough; he was strong already. _

**_The scene changed again…_ **

_ Now the raven haired boy was alone; he seemed to be searching for something. Tears ran down his cheeks and his chest heaved as he ran around the clearing that he and the feline-boy had played in for years only to find that it was empty. He lifted his head to the overcast sky and shouted his agony to the listening world: _

_ “KENMA!” _

“Kei!” A voice called, “Can you hear me?”

The blond’s eyes slowly opened to meet the anxious eyes of Akiteru; a tight frown was pulled across his face causing it to wrinkle in ways it shouldn’t given that he was only twenty-four years old. Kei glanced around himself and noticed that he was still standing outside of the doors to the hospital. Akiteru’s hands were grasping his forearms so tightly that the area his fingers were pressing into were turning stark white. Kei shook his head, as though he was trying to shake off the remnants of sleep and tried to focus on what was happening around them.

Kuroo and Yamaguchi were standing quite a way off now. Yamaguchi with his hands folded over his chest; his hazel eyes boring into the taller raven with an intensity that even Kei himself wasn’t familiar with. Kuroo himself seemed a little resigned, if perhaps a little tense; his hands buried deep in his pockets, shoulders slightly raised towards his ears and his eyes pointedly directed elsewhere. Kei chewed on the inside of his cheek and frowned as he picked up a sense of unease existing between the other two members of their little group.

“Kei?”

The younger, but taller, Tsukishima shook his head again and looked back at his older brother. His hands had slackened slightly, but there was still a sense of apprehension and worry rolling off Akiteru; his mocha coloured eyes narrowed speculatively. 

“I’m alright nii-san,” Kei muttered; pulling his arms out of Akiteru’s grip, “Just...just tired I guess.”

Akiteru frowned,

“Are you sure? That didn’t…”

“I’m sure.” Kei cut him off pointedly; rubbing his forearm absently, “Can we just...get out of here?”

The older blond looked as though he was about to protest, but the sound of someone clearing their throat cut him off. The Tsukishimas both turned towards Yamaguchi who was now smiling at the pair of them softly; though a sense of urgency was also on his face. The brunet raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

“We can head home for now,” He offered with a shrug, “My parents’ wards should still be up to help mask us from Daishou and the others, and it will give us a temporary home base for us to rest while we wait for the others.”

Wards? Kei frowned to himself thoughtfully; were Yamaguchi’s parents in on all of this too? He scowled. Of course they were; why wouldn’t they be? This was all getting too complicated and it was worse solely for the fact that he seemed to be the only one outside the loop. Kei was pulled out of his thoughts when Kuroo’s soft hum reached his ears.

“That could possibly work.” He agreed, “I’ll have to find a way to send a message to them, but that definitely sounds like our best bet.”

“I’m sure my parents will have some sort of parchment that you’ll be able to use to send to Akaashi-san.” Yamaguchi assured him readily.

“Okay then.” Kuroo nodded, “We best be off then, before Suguru has a chance to catch up with us.”

Akiteru and Yamaguchi made a simultaneous affirmative grunt; the younger of the two turning on their heels and started to lead Kuroo towards the main road. Kei found himself watching the pair, an uncomfortable feeling rising in his gut as they got further and further away. Kei found himself once again pulling absently on his fingers as he watched their backs growing more and more distant. He squinted his eyes as Yamaguchi’s figure seemed to blur; brown hair being replaced with half brown and half blond, the dark autumn jacket being replaced with a dark red jumper and dark grey trousers being replaced with black. 

“Kei?”

Kei rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses and readjusted them accordingly; the vision of Yamaguchi walking just a little ahead of Kuroo returning instantaneously. He sighed under his breath and glanced up at Akiteru who was still looking at him in concern; his mouth and eyes drawn tight.

“I’m fine.” He muttered as he started forward to follow Yamaguchi and Kuroo, “Just a little tired I guess.”

Akiteru hummed,

“And rightfully so; it’s been a long morning.”

Kei’s eyes widened as he looked disbelievingly up at the sky. His heart pounding unsteadily in his chest as he realised that the sun was in fact still just below its predestined apex. It was in fact  _ still _ morning. It felt like he had been up for a whole day when in reality, it had only been a couple of hours. He fought the need to curl into himself and hide away. He could feel his brother’s eyes drifting towards him every now and again, but he ignored it. Keeping his eyes on the broad, sturdy back of Kuroo Tetsurou as they made their way back to what used to be his safe haven. His home.


	5. Midday Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Kei wants is to get some answers, instead what he gets is more questions, more ridiculousness, and four more strangers.

It was hard to believe that it was only yesterday, his life was normal.

He was focused on the everyday things like how he was going to sit through another Intro to Economics class without tearing out his eyeballs, or even how he was going to get his next steaming cup of coffee. His only concern was making sure that Yamaguchi and he had gotten out to the Datekyo ruins to get some pictures and evidence for their shared Intro to Anthropology essay that they had to complete for Takeda-sensei two weeks from now. Instead, he found out that magic might not actually be limited to the world of Harry Potter, Akiteru and Yamaguchi have been speaking to each other and hiding it, and that he had somehow ended up in the middle of some extravagant plot to destroy the world. Probably.

Oh yeah, and apparently he was some sort of anthropomorphic glow stick.

Kei scowled to himself and stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom; his hands splayed across the bed and facing the same direction as his gaze. When they had arrived at the Yamaguchi household, he did not waste any time in retreating to his bedroom and locking the door behind him. He was sure that Akiteru had tried to follow him, and was even about to stop him, but for some reason the elder Tsukishima just stopped outside the shut door. Kei could practically feel his brother’s energy trying to grab onto him from the other side; coaxing him gently as though he were some frightened animal that needed soothing.

He sighed loudly under his breath and pushed himself upright; burying his fingers into his comforter. Grasping onto some semblance of his past that will help tether himself to the growing chaos that was becoming his reality. He glanced around his modest bedroom; the bare cream walls staring at him blankly as his eyes scurried around the space. His large bookcase still stood tall in the corner of his room. The case was filled to the brim with knowledge that he had so desperately wanted to learn; the ways of the world that he knew he was initially deprived of and so worked ten times harder in order to catch up to everyone around him.

He couldn’t remember much from when he first arrived in Torono. It was almost like one day he had just  _ existed _ . Except for a few distant memories, distant dreams that may not even be real, he honestly had no idea where he had come from. All he knew was that he was alone. His Kaa-san was dead. Akiteru was gone. A nice family had found him and took him in as one of their own. In retrospect he was extremely lucky. He was extremely  _ thankful _ .

But now…now he wasn’t so sure.

If the Yamaguchis were a part of all this, if they  _ knew _ everything about all of this, did they merely stumble upon him as they’ve always said? Or was it something completely different?

BANG.

He jumped slightly as he was yanked from his thoughts; the sound of the knock pulling his attention towards his shut door. Kei rubbed his hand through his hair and resisted the urge to tug on the strands in frustration. His anxieties settled low in his stomach as he mechanically pushed himself from his bed and took slow, yet purposeful steps towards his bedroom door. He hesitated and stared ahead at the pure white barricade; his hand raised abortively to grab a hold of the silver door knob.

“Kei, are you alright?”

The blond huffed through his nose and grasped onto the handle; rolling his eyes as he tugged it open slowly. Just as he had expected initially, Akiteru was standing at the entrance to Kei’s bedroom. His hand was still raised as though he was going to try knocking again; a sense of sadness residing in the depths of his eyes. Kei swung his door open a little wider and stepped through the doorway, closing his door firmly behind him as he went. The heavy wooden door smacked against its frame with a resounding snap.

Akiteru flinched at the sound and was forced to take a step backwards to avoid standing toe to toe with him. Kei rolled his shoulders back and maneuvered his way around the other blond; a sense of forced confidence echoed in his every step. He had to at least pretend that this whole situation wasn’t getting to him. He had to pretend that he had some semblance of control. 

Akiteru’s responding sigh reached his ears,

“Kei…”

“I’m fine nii-san.” He interrupted him shortly as he made his way down the hall and towards the joined kitchenette and sitting room. 

The bespeckled blond took in the empty lounge and felt his frown deepen even further. There was a suspicious lack of ridiculous bed-head and apologetic side glances. Kei rolled his eyes and instead turned his focus towards the kitchen; walking straight for the refrigerator. He yanked the door open with a little more force than what was probably necessary and buried his head inside the cold confines of the large appliance. 

He felt the hairs rise up on the back of his neck and goosebumps appear along his forearms as he rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. He wrapped a hand around the carton of strawberry milk and leaned against the nearest counter as he nudged the fridge door closed once more with his hip. He crossed his feet at the ankles and fiddled with the lid of the carton for a brief moment before he pried the drink open and started to drain the pink, strawberry goodness down his throat.

He was acutely aware of Akiteru watching him from where he had taken a seat at the counter; the stool shifted slightly as he displaced his weight and rested his forearms on the marble before him. His long fingers traced the intricate designs skating across the smooth surface as silence surrounded the two brothers; each attempting to exist in different worlds whilst residing in the same one for the first time in years. Kei took one more sip of his strawberry milk before he placed it on the counter and folded his arms across his chest abrasively.

“Nii-san,” He pursed his lips, “tell me what’s going on.”

Akiteru closed his eyes and pressed his face into his hands,

“I want to, but.”

The younger blond’s eyes narrowed,

“But nothing. You owe me an explanation Akiteru. You can’t just pop in and out of my life whenever you feel like it.”

“What, you think I didn’t want to be a part of your life?” Akiteru stated exasperatedly, “Kei, that has literally been all that I wanted for the last ten years.”

Kei clicked his tongue and dragged his gaze away from his brother’s imploring brown eyes. He twisted his fingers in the hem of his jumper and tried to relax his shoulders as his heart started to pound in his chest. He could feel tears that he had been burying for so long trying to break down his walls, but he couldn’t let himself give in. He wouldn’t.

“Then where were you.” Kei spat harshly; his hands curling into fists, “You were just  _ gone _ and I don’t know  _ why _ .”

Silence once again descended upon the brothers. Something familiar that they never seemed to be able to escape. Kei was about to walk away, forget the whole encounter, when the sound of Akiteru’s stool screeching across the laminate floor reached his ears. He listened as his older brother’s socked footsteps slid over the tiles only to stop in front of him. Kei had to fight back a flinch as Akiteru’s hand landed softly on his shoulder and gripped it as tightly as he dared.

“Kei, look at me.”

The younger Tsukishima bit into his bottom lip before he forced himself to face his brother head on. \He raised his head and stared straight into rivers of brown. Akiteru’s eyes shimmered with so many different emotions that Kei thought he was going to drown. He leaned back just the slightest bit so that the edge of the counter he was leaning on dug into his spine; grounding him in the situation and his current feelings so that he wouldn’t be swept away in his brother’s intensity. 

“I promise you that I never wanted to leave you,” Akiteru whispered solemnly; his fingers twitching with the need to grasp even tighter, “if I had the choice to do it all again, I would’ve found a way to keep you by my side.”

Kei scoffed and looked away,

“But you didn’t. You never came back for me; you never once indicated that you were even  _ alive _ .”

The older blond flinched,

“I…”

“No.” Kei cut him off sternly; his voice steeling over as he moved from underneath his brother’s grip, “Unless you’re going to tell me where the hell you’ve been, I don’t want to hear another word from you.”

As if Kei had physically struck him, Akiteru shrunk backwards; even going so far as to taking a step backwards. For a brief moment, he felt a shimmer of remorse for his coldness, but it was quickly doused by the growing frustration that was brewing in the pit of his stomach. The tips of his fingers tingled unpleasantly as he continued to glare at his older brother; almost wishing he would go ahead and say something. Even now, he still found himself waiting, hoping, that his brother would meet him halfway or take away his insecurities. Pathetic.

“Well, it’s definitely more awkward here than when we left.”

At the interruption of the smooth tenor, the siblings turned their heads to see Kuroo, followed Yamaguchi and four other strangers, entering the lounge in a glorified heap before separating into separate corners of the room. A few took residence on the nearby couches while others hovered in the fringes of the kitchenette; awkwardly taking in the scene that they had just walked in on. Kei frowned at the new additions apprehensively and moved further into the kitchen in an attempt to put some space between himself and the newcomers. He was so done with meeting people today.

“HEY, HEY, HEY!” A boisterous voice cut through his inner thoughts murderously, “You’re taller than I thought you would be!”

Before he could even register who had spoken, a pair of muscular arms wrapped around his upper torso like a python. He fought back an awkward flail as he was brought roughly against someone’s chest, at least he hoped it was a chest, and was forced to look over a broad shoulder at a cackling Kuroo who was doing nothing to hide his apparent humour at the situation. It wasn’t long after that a stifled snort reached his ears and he noticed that Yamaguchi was turning bright red in an effort to stop his own laughter from slipping out. The traitor.

Kei felt his eye twitch in annoyance and tried to pry himself away from the stranger who had dared invade his personal space, only to choke on his spit as his eyes landed on him. He was about as tall as Kuroo, but definitely more muscular. So while he might have had the one or two inches on him, there was absolutely no doubt in Kei’s mind that this man could probably accidentally kill someone simply by giving them a hug. The man had an interesting hairstyle – his hair was shaped into twin silver and black spikes – and he, like Kuroo, had golden eyes; though his were more luminescent. While Kuroo seemed more cat-like in nature, he would have to say that this man resembled a horned owl. 

The blond swallowed and was about to renew his attempts to escape when the man’s arms seemed to tighten even further; sweat starting to gather underneath his shirt as he realised just how warm he was in the stranger’s arms. Luckily, another man with slightly curly brown hair and piercing, yet bored looking, gunmetal blue eyes sighed and stepped towards Kei and the leech that had decided to latch onto him. Judging by the stoic face and the ‘no-nonsense’ attitude of the brown haired man, Kei could tell that this person could possibly be the sanest person that he has met today.

“Bokuto-san, calm down please; you’re going to make him uncomfortable.”

“But ‘Kaashiiiiiiii!” The leech, now known as ‘Bokuto-san’ whined in his ear; practically burying his face into the crook of Kei’s neck and shoulder, “I’m just saying hello.”

Kei blinked dubiously as the curly haired male sighed in exhaustion,

“I understand that Bokuto-san, but Tsukishima-kun has been through enough today as it is without you attacking him the first chance you get.”

Bokuto seems to slump over Kei’s shoulder in defeat before sliding right off his tall frame and slinking over to the counter that Akiteru had previously been seated. The silver haired man sank onto his older brother’s now vacated stool and rested his head on the off-white counter top; a dejected sadness radiating off him in waves. Kei tilted his head in confusion and found himself shivering slightly due to the sudden loss of warmth. While he was a little concerned, and he meant  _ a little _ , about the quick change in behaviour, a small, grateful smile tweaked the corner of his lips as he nodded thankfully at the brown haired individual who inclined his head gracefully in return.

“I am sorry about Bokuto-san,” He stated; an exasperated monotone coating his voice, “He can get a little overbearing sometimes, but he means well.”

“I noticed,” Kei watched as Kuroo had wandered from the other side of the island and started to pat Bokuto’s back in mock-sympathy, “Uh, thank you…”

“Akaashi,” The brown haired man stuck his hand in his pockets, “Akaashi Keiji.”

Kei nodded at Akaashi in acknowledgement and found his eyes wandering over to Kuroo, Bokuto and the others who had appeared with Yamaguchi. He knew for a fact that he did not recognize any of them, which means that Kei was either losing his touch or these people were not from the Miyagi area. And since he definitely was not losing his observational skills, that means the only solution was that they were not from the area. Which led to even more questions.

He knew that Yamaguchi was a likeable person, and when he tried he was very adept at being friendly and making friends. In fact, you could almost say that it would be easy for him. Or it would be easy if his social anxiety did not get the best of him so much. Sure he was polite enough to strangers, but he never specifically went out of his way to talk to them. He only ever talked to Kei. Yet, here he was talking with all these new and strange people as if he had known them his entire life. If he wasn’t already questioning Yamaguchi’s motives before, he most definitely was now. It made him wonder if he had ever known Yamaguchi Tadashi at all.

“Tsukishima-kun,” Akaashi’s level voice reached his ears, “Is there something on your mind?”

Kei looked at the stoic man out of the corner of his eye and tugged on his pinky absently. His honey gaze trailed over the schooled expression of the man beside him and felt something akin to warmth. Almost like the feeling he would get when Yamaguchi-kaa-san would try and sweep him up into a hug when he was having one of his bad days. There was definitely something about Akaashi-san that made him feel  _ safe _ .

He felt his cheeks heat up when he realised that he was probably staring too long; Akaashi-san raised a quizzical brow as he quickly pulled his gaze away from the shorter brunet.

“I,” Kei huffed and adjusted his glasses compulsively, “Akaashi-san, if you don’t mind me asking you directly, why are you here?”

It was as if a bomb had been dropped in the middle of the house. All the mindless chatter that had been going on in the background came to a stop. A tension that was not blatantly present a second ago was now growing like an impending storm. Kei glanced around the room and noticed that the majority of the people in space were staring at him in varying degrees of confusion or disbelief, whilst others seemed to be glaring somewhere behind him; no doubt where Akiteru was still hovering in the background.

“Tsukishima…” Akaashi blinked up at him with something that almost seemed like surprise, “Do you not know?”

Kei’s shoulders rose up towards his ears defensively; his fingers and arms tingling uncomfortably,

“It’s not like I haven’t been asking.”

The taller blond frowned as Akaashi turned his gaze towards Akiteru who was standing where he suspected. If it was any consolation, the older Tsukishima couldn’t seem to meet Akaashi’s gunmetal gaze; his hands twitching habitually at his sides as tension seemed to creep up on his tall frame. Which, if he thought about it now, was kind of strange to see Akiteru so blatantly intimidated by someone. 

“Tsukishima-san,” Akaashi’s eyes narrowed disapprovingly, “How much have you told him?”

Akiteru rubbed the back of his neck and sighed; keeping his gaze focused on his own two feet. Kei felt his frown deepened as he took in the properly chastised form of his older brother. As much as he was annoyed with his behaviour and all the secrecy, seeing his brother look so submissive made his insides crawl. He clenched his own fists at his sides and opened his mouth to say something, anything, to put Akiteru out of his misery when he was cut off before he even had the chance.

“Hold on,” A gruff voice ripped through the silence; the source coming from the wall farthest from the kitchenette and closest to the couch, “Are you telling me that he has no idea what’s going on? That’s just great.”

Kei bristled at the implication of his incompetence and scowled at the sour-faced male,

“It’s not like I had much of a say in the matter short-stack.”

A pin could’ve dropped at the moment, and everyone would’ve heard it. It was as if everyone had stopped breathing. The blond raised an eyebrow when he saw the dark haired man from across the room push himself away from the wall; his face like thunder. 

“What did you call me?”

The corner of Kei’s lips curled into a smirk; finally, something he was familiar with. Something he could control. He could practically feel the rage simmering beneath the other man’s skin. Just waiting to explode. He would just need a little  _ push _ . He squared his shoulders and rose to his full height; looking down his nose through his glasses with his head tilted slightly to the side. 

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi laughed nervously and grabbed onto the sleeve of his jumper, “I wouldn’t…”

Kei pulled his arm away from his childhood friend’s grasp and shoved his hands in his pockets,

“Sorry, you’re so small I can barely even hear you.”

The other man growled deep in his chest and pushed himself off the wall. He took purposeful steps across the lounge and towards the kitchenette; fire burned in his forest green eyes. If Kei had even an ounce of preservation in him left, he would have heeded Yamaguchi’s warning, but at this very moment he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Just as the shorter man went to launch himself over the island, another tall man in the group with dark curly hair and tired looking eyes reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt collar.

“Now Iwa,” The male said teasingly, “He’s just trying to get under your skin; best keep that brutish side at bay, we don’t want to maim him after all.”

Somehow the scowl that was planted on the angry male, Iwa’s, face seemed to deepen. Kei was also pretty sure that a vein was starting to protrude from his forehead in annoyance. He swatted the hand off his shoulder and shifted his stance to face the man who had touched him.

“Say that again Matsukawa, I dare you.”

Matsukawa smiled and thumped Iwa’s back in a continuous motion; forcing the shorter male’s frown to darken even more. Within seconds, Iwa turned on his heel and punched a fist into Matsukawa’s side causing a resounding clang to echo throughout the somewhat crowded kitchenette and lounge. Matsukawa cackled joyfully as Iwa pulled his hand away with a wince; the knuckles reddened from coming into contact with whatever was on the taller male’s body.

“See Iwa-Iwa, I’ve told you before that hitting things isn’t always the answer.”

The dark haired male rolled his eyes before smacking the back of Matsukawa’s head in retaliation,

“Oh shut up Mattsun.”

Matsukawa released an exaggerated squawk and pouted as he slumped over his companion’s shoulders. Kei half expected for Iwa to swat the brunet away, but instead just rolled his eyes and shook his head in annoyance. Although, if he wasn’t mistaken he was pretty sure that there was a sense of ease and fondness starting to grow in Iwa’s eyes the longer he tolerated Matsukawa’s actions. Interesting.

“Maa, maa,” Kuroo stepped forward with a wave of his hand; pushing his way from somewhere to the left of Kei and approached the two brunets with a placating smile, “Tsukishima and Freckles said they’d fill him in when everyone arrived at the safe house; they figured it would be easier that way.”

Kei rolled his eyes at Kuroo’s statement and folded his arms across his chest; glancing away. There was no doubt in the blond’s mind that the raven had completely made that up on the spot. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Akiteru had stiffened once more and Yamaguchi had started to rub the back of his neck nervously. 

“Oh please,” Matsukawa raised his head incrementally from Iwa’s shoulder; a suspicious leer overtaking his lazy features, “if you’re trying to say that it’s not because Tsukishima is too afraid to tell blondy over there that he’s practically a god, then you’ve finally lost it Kuroo.”

Kei felt his eyes widen from beneath his glasses and he was pretty sure his mouth dropped open slightly,

“A  _ what _ ? You have got to be joking.”

The blond’s eyes landed on every single person in the house, hoping that someone would burst into laughter and say ‘we sure got you good!’; but of course the world was essentially against his very existence and that didn’t happen. Kei clutched onto the hem of his shirt and squeezed; the pads of his thumbs almost pulsating from the tenseness that gathered there.

In a last ditch effort, Kei turned so his eyes were on Akiteru,

“Tell me he isn’t serious.”

Akiteru sighed sadly and ran his hand through his hair nervously,

“Well, I wouldn’t say a  _ god _ persay; maybe something more like a mage?” 

Kei stared blankly at his brother; a harsh scowl curling his lips,

“That does not make this any better.”

He clenched his fists and looked at his feet, but movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to look up again. Kuroo slowly approached him calmly, and gently placed his hands on Kei’s shoulders. The taller blond felt an immediate need to shrink away from the contact, but found himself staring evenly into a pair of amber eyes.

“You can’t deny that something is different about you; that you changed after the events of Datekyo castle.”

Kei swallowed thickly as he felt the back of his neck heat up and his arms start to tingle. He could almost picture the intricate knots and swirls dancing across his epidermis and branching into different directions over his body; golden light illuminating pale skin as though the sun’s pure light ran through his veins instead of blood. Kei curled his hands into fists and stared at Kuroo evenly; his mouth drawn into a tight line.

“How do you know about Datekyo?” He avoided skillfully, “You weren’t even there.”

“That’s not important right now,” Kuroo evaded just as easily, “what does matter is that you’ve  _ changed _ ; or at least became aware of what you’ve always known, but could not quite put your finger on.”

The blond frowned contemplatively,

“If you mean the stuff with Daishou and my mother…”

“No,” The raven interrupted, “I mean with you as a person.”

Simultaneously, his chest both tightened and relaxed. An odd feeling of recognition seemed to sweep through him as Kuroo’s words sunk into the air between the two of them. Within moments, a now familiar warmth was starting to spread through his extremities. Even without glancing down he knew that his skin had once again taken on that golden tone; almost as if a flashlight was shining through the skin of his arms.

“Before Datekyo, you could do things that ‘normal’ people couldn’t quite understand,” Kuroo pushed forward somewhat tenderly, “You could understand people in intimate ways that made them uncomfortable, right? Because you just seemed to know what they were thinking or feeling.”

The blond clicked his tongue in disbelief and moved out of Kuroo’s reach so that the raven’s arms either had to remain hanging awkwardly or drop to his sides,

“That’s just weak if that’s your only proof; I’m good at reading people. Nothing special there Kuroo-san.”

“Tsukki, listen to what he is saying,” Yamaguchi stepped closer to them; his hazel eyes looking up at him almost imploringly, “You’ve always known your ‘feelings’ about people went beyond just reading them and their actions; part of your magic makes you empathetic.”

Kei blinked at him for a moment before a barely contained laugh burst out of him. He immediately covered his mouth in an attempt to squash it down, but he still had to take a few moments to gather himself before he could even begin to say anything.

“Okay, now that’s where I know you’ve lost it; especially you Tadashi.”

“What makes you say that, Tsukishima-kun?”

Kei turned towards Akaashi who was watching him with that same blank stare; which was now accompanied by a raised eyebrow. He pressed his thumb and forefinger to his temple and pressed it softly. If this continued for any longer, he was sure to get a headache. Especially if he had to keep explaining the obvious.

“Because I take too much pleasure out of riling people up.” He deadpanned, “Did all of you decidedly check-out when I tried to start something with the hobbit?”

The blond had to hold back a smirk as a responding, low growl reached his ears. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see that Iwa had shot him a dirty look and was trying with all his might to keep his feet planted firmly where they were. Though, it probably helped that Matsukawa was still using him as a resting post. Ah, the small victories.

“Hey, Hey, Hey Tsukki,” Bokuto suddenly sauntered up to him from behind and threw an arm around his shoulders once more with a bright smile on his face; clearly over the rejection from earlier, “That doesn’t prove anything!”

Kei sighed in exasperation and adjusted his glasses,

“And why would that be Bokuto-san?”

“Well,” Bokuto hummed almost thoughtfully; Kei could almost see the gears in his brain turning, “Kuroo is an asshole and he’s one of the nicest guys I know.”

Kuroo squawked in indignation as a small wave of snickers echoed around Kei,

“Bro, you wound me!”

Bokuto rolled his eyes and punched Kuroo’s shoulder teasingly,

“You know it’s true bro, but that’s why we love you!”

As Kuroo and Bokuto’s discussion fell into the background, along with everyone else, Kei tried to reason against everything Kuroo and Yamaguchi pointed out, but there was nothing that could refute those facts. He was always adept at picking out people’s reactions and sensitive spots just by looking at them or talking to them for a brief time. And he has noticed that lately, he has been able to pick up on more and more things about the people around him. Like the dark aura that Daishou seemed to carry around, or how he was able to tell that it was Akiteru who had taken residence outside his door earlier. Sure, part of it could be just deductions and his intelligence, but somewhere deep in his gut, he knew that it was more than that.

Then there was also that time at the hospital. When he shook Kuroo’s hand, he must have gotten some insight into his memories. How he did that, he had no clue. But there was absolutely no doubt in his mind that the little raven that he saw in his mind’s eye was a younger Kuroo. But the thought of being a type of god was way out in left field; there was no way in hell that his mind would be able to comprehend that. Especially with all the horrible things that he’s done by using his observations against other people to bring them down when his own insecurities got in the way.

Kei cleared his throat slightly; halting any form of conversation as seven pairs of eyes looked at him. He immediately felt the need to shrink away behind his steel-reinforced walls. Barbed words already prepared to fly off his tongue if the situation ever called for it. He swallowed and tugged on his pinky as he gathered his hands in front of him and clasped them tightly to hide the nervous tic. 

“Say I was to consider even the idea that I was some sort of all-powerful mage,” He muttered, “I’m not saying I am but, if I were, what would that make all of you?”

“That’s easy to answer!” Bokuto turned towards him and laughed loudly in his ear as he smashed his face right alongside his, “We’re your protectors.”

“Protectors?” Kei’s eye twitched at the closeness and tried to move away without the silveret noticing, “Protectors of what?”

“Well,” Akaashi hummed as he peeled the laughing horned owl away from Kei; depositing Bokuto at his side and even going as so far as to hold onto the back of his shirt to restrict his movement, “I guess you could compare us to guardian angels or perhaps even knights, who are intended to protect you; at least in some capacity.”

“I see.” Kei pursed his lips thoughtfully.

Matsukawa snorted from where he leaned against Iwa; rising to his full height,

“You sure you should be comparing us to angels, Akaashi? I’d say we’re a little too violent for that.”

The slightly shorter brunet shrugged his shoulders non-committedly, 

“What angel doesn’t condone a little bloodshed for the greater good.”

Kei blinked at the brunet with wide eyes. He glanced over to Akiteru and Yamaguchi, looking for some sign that Akaashi might be joking, but they looked just as serious. He clenched his jaw and ground his molars for a moment as he took in the reactions of everyone else in the room. Kuroo was looking at Akaashi with a flash of humour, which was unsurprising seeing how he acted around Daishou and Bokuto just continued to smile brightly; as if he didn’t even hear what Akaashi had said. Even if the silveret was also given the brunet his undivided attention.

Kei regarded Iwa’s tense stature and almost looked away from him. There was something vulnerable in his forest green eyes, and the blond couldn’t find it in himself to gaze that long. Although it felt like just moments ago he wanted to shine a light on all of Iwa’s insecurities, he couldn’t find it in himself to do so now. From that brief glance alone he was able to pick up feelings of self-loathing, guilt, and pain; all feelings he knew that he probably shouldn’t feel. Kei shook his head and turned his attention back to the group as a whole.

“So,” He muttered, “I’ve been, fortunate, to talk with some of you already; but, I haven’t had the chance to introduce myself formally. You can call me Tsukishima.”

Almost before he could get the sentence out the tall, dark curly-haired male stepped towards him and held his hand out. It was only now that he was up close that he could confirm that Matsukawa was wearing armour. He was smiling at the blond, but Kei couldn’t help but feel a spark of apprehension when he looked at him like that.

He had a feeling that Matsukawa, albeit friendly, would not hesitate to go to violence should the need call for it. That being said, Kei could tell that Matsukawa had a lot of patience and tended to stick with wordplay more than his fists. Kei held out his own hand and hesitated; his chest tightening as he realised he might just be thrown into yet another batch of memories with each person that he touched.

“The name’s Matsukawa Issei,” He grabbed his hand; the coolness of the armour plating pressing against his palm, “Metal mage extraordinaire.”

Luckily, no memories appeared, so Kei relaxed slightly and nodded his head in response. He could practically hear his brother and Yamaguchi glaring holes into the back of his head for not saying anything in return, but he was not up for their opinions on anything at the moment. The sound of laughter met their ears causing Matsukawa to let go of Kei’s hand and glance at Bokuto with a raised eyebrow,

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing,” Bokuto smiled brightly at them and leaned against Akaashi; almost as if his legs had suddenly turned to jelly and didn’t want to support him anymore. 

“Bo,” Matsukawa shook his head almost fondly, “You’re a real hoot do you know that.”

Kei couldn’t stop the snort that escaped him causing everyone to look at him in surprise.

“What?” He scowled defensively.

“Tsukki,” Kuroo smirked at the blond as he leaned into his personal space, “Do you like puns?”

His scowl deepened and he took a step away from the raven,

“As if. That joke was just really horrible.”

Matsukawa shrugged his shoulders,

“Yeah I admit it wasn’t my best; at least Makki wasn’t here to see it.”

“Makki?” He whispered.

Matsukawa simply shrugged his shoulders almost wistfully and stepped away. Kei watched the tall brunet wander off towards Iwa who had wandered away from the group setting and was now making his way towards the back door. He watched as the shorter male opened the door without hesitation and slipped his shoes off his feet before stepping outside. That was a little backwards. He frowned thoughtfully as the door remained open; showing Kei a slightly obscured view into the backyard. He could faintly make out Iwa taking a seat in the middle of the grass; his fingers threading themselves through the soft blades.

“Hanamaki Takahiro.” Kuroo voiced right next to his ear making him jump slightly, “He’s not here right now, but maybe you’ll meet him at some point; it’s rare that those three are without each other.”

“Ah.”

He watched as Matsukawa reached Iwa and sat himself in the grass next to him. He didn’t make a sound when he sat down, despite the armour he was wearing, but Iwa seemed to twitch as though he had felt the taller brunet’s approach.

“Whatcha staring at Tsukki?”

Kei tore his gaze from Matsukawa and Iwa and scowled at Kuroo,

“Don’t call me Tsukki, it’s Tsukishima.”

Kuroo pouted dramatically,

“You didn’t have a problem with me calling you that earlier.”

The blond sighed and gave the raven a pointed look,

“If you didn’t notice, I was a little preoccupied trying to get answers earlier Kuroo-san.”

The raven shrugged his shoulders, but didn’t say anything else. Kei was sure that he was going to have peace and quiet to think about everything that has been happening only to have Kuroo clear his throat from beside him.

“So, what were you looking at?”

Kei sighed again; he really was doing that a lot lately,

“Nothing in particular Kuroo-san; don’t worry about it.”

The raven hummed under his breath and silence reigned once more. It was a tad uncomfortable, but it wasn’t so much the silence that made it that way. Strangely enough, Kuroo had a pretty relaxing presence – maybe it had something to do with the Water Element that he had control over.

No, what made him uncomfortable was how much this Kuroo standing beside him did and didn’t resemble that little raven haired boy from his dream. There were moments when Kuroo was loud, sarcastic and teasing (particularly with Bokuto), but there were also times like at this moment when he was more like his feline-like friend – quiet and a little subdued. It would be a lie if he said that he wasn’t curious about what happened to Kuroo to make him so sad, but it was not his business.

“His name is Iwaizumi Hajime.”

“What?” Kei tumbled out of his thoughts and stared at Kuroo.

“The one you bravely called short-stack, his name is Iwaizumi Hajime.”

“Why are you telling me this Kuroo-san?”

The raven smiled slightly,

“Because he probably won’t tell you himself; he tends to be a little closed off.”

The blond turned his gaze towards the shortest member of the group who was still perched in the grass, now with his eyes closed. Even from this distance he could see that Iwaizumi’s shoulders were tense and that his hands were clasped tightly. The subtle wind that blew through the trees passed through his spiky brown hair and he was pretty sure that he could see one of Matsukawa’s hands brushing over one of his clenched knuckles.


	6. Early Evening Evaluations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kei takes time to sit and reflect upon his entire situation; while getting some answers from Kuroo-san and Yamaguchi-kaa-san. He just never realised just how deep tensions ran. Or how childish some of his 'protectors' could actual be.

_ Two young children ran towards a large, sakura tree; the limbs empty of the bright, pink petals as summer gave way to autumn. Different shades of brown hair danced in the wind as they tore through the grass towards their final destination. The shorter boy with unruly dark brown hair and determined forest green eyes raced further ahead of the taller, lighter brown haired boy who was moving as though he had a stitch pulling at his side.  _

_ “Ow, ow, ow Iwa-chan!” The taller boy called shrilly; trying to catch up, “My kidney is going to explode out of my body!” _

_ The shorter boy snorted as he came to a stop before the tree and slapped the tree trunk victoriously, _

_ “Then you shouldn’t have scarfed down that puff-pastry before challenging me to a race, dumbass.” _

_ The light brunet whined out petulantly and pouted dramatically,  _

_ “Mean Iwa-chan!” _

_ The darker brunet chuckled under his breath as he approached the other boy. He smacked the other boy in the back of the head playfully; his green eyes shining with mirth. The corner of the other boy’s lips twitched into a smirk as they both collapsed to the ground in a fit of laughter. Absolutely nothing could take this day away from them. Nothing. _

Kei opened his eyes and found himself looking at the plain four walls of his room once more. He sighed under his breath and pushed himself upright; searching for his glasses on his nightstand and sliding them onto his face. He glanced out his bedside window and noticed that quite a bit of time had passed since he retreated to his room with the excuse of a migraine; the sun’s rays slowly fading into the pinks and yellows of sunset. 

He frowned to himself as faces of children he didn’t completely recognise drifted back into the recesses of his mind. He tried to remember details from the dream, to see if there was anything at all familiar, but it was tenuous at best; the images fragmenting and fading each moment he tried to dwell on them. 

Kei shook his head and swung his legs over the left side of his bed; stretching his long legs slightly before pushing himself to his feet. He stumbled slightly over his rug as he made his way to his bedroom door and pulled it open. He made his way back down the narrow hallway and towards the lounge and kitchenette. His lone footsteps echoed through the strangely silent house. His eyebrows furrowed as he realised it was  _ too _ quiet.

He rounded the corner to the combined kitchen and lounge only to see that it was suspiciously empty. Kei’s frown deepened as he noticed that he was completely alone. Was there a chance that he had dreamed up the entire experience? He wandered over to the fridge and opened the door; reaching in to grab his carton of strawberry milk. He wrapped his fingers around the familiar object and stood up straight, making his way across the kitchen to the cupboard with all of the glasses.

“Kei, it seems you’ve rejoined us in the land of the living.”

The blond jumped at the sound of the unexpected voice; the glass he was about to grasp onto dropped from his fingers and shattered beneath his feet. He cursed under his breath and moved to grab the broom that was hidden on the other side of the counter, when a gentle, familiar hand clasped onto his elbow and held him in place. 

“Sorry for startling you like that,” Yamaguchi-kaa-san whispered reassuringly, “You’d think after eighteen years I’d know not to sneak up behind you when you’re deep in thought.”

Kei hummed non-committedly under his breath as she carefully maneuvered him away from the shards of glass that littered the floor. He was about to protest, to say that he was more than capable of cleaning his mess himself, when he watched with wide eyes as she simply waved a hand. The glass on the ground seemed to tremble slightly before snapping back into their designated configuration and landing safely back on the counter. Kei hesitantly reached out a finger and poked at the reconstructed glass.

“How…”

Yamaguchi-kaa-san smiled softly; her hazel eyes gleaming sadly,

“Kei, it’s not like you to ask questions about things you already know the answer to.”

The blond hummed to himself as he set about continuing his initial task; pouring his strawberry milk. Magic. Right. His mother-figure seemed to watch his movements closely as he poured the milk as close to the brim of his glass as he could before wandering over to the fridge and placing the carton where it had once resided. 

“Why,” Yamaguchi-kaa-san broke the silence, “why don’t we go sit down? I think it’s time we had a bit of a talk.”

Kei nodded his head once and reached around her to grab his glass of milk; his large hands wrapping around the entirety of the glass easily. He led the pair of them over to the settee and sat down carefully. Yamaguchi-kaa-san mirrored his movements and sat so that she was mostly facing him. Her slight frame exuded confidence as she tried to look him in the eye; the way her hands clasped tightly around each other in her lap being the only indicator that she was nervous. The pair of them sat in silence for a few moments. Kei absently ran his fingers along the smooth surface of his glass; making no movement to take a sip of his comfort drink. 

“Kei, the first thing you need to understand is,”

“Did you take me in because you wanted to, or because you were told to?”

He bit his lip as soon as the question left his mouth; regretting the vulnerable inquiry that had managed to slip through without his control. He was about to tell her to forget he even asked, when he was cut off by her hand wrapping around his wrist firmly. He raised his head from his glass and looked into her eyes.

“We wanted to.” She whispered without hesitation, “Even before we realised who you were, we wanted you.”

He scoffed under his breath,

“Forgive me if I can’t quite believe you.”

She squeezed his wrist imploringly; she tried to match his gaze,

“I know, and there’s absolutely no way that I can ask you to forgive us. But you have to understand, we love you very much and no matter what you decide, we will support you.”

He looked into her eyes steadfastly, 

“Even if it meant me telling you that I never wanted to see you again.”

He felt her hand tense; her voice breaking as she responded,

“Even then.”

Kei felt the tension leave his shoulders as a breath he didn’t realise he was holding in escaped his system. He opened his eyes slowly and looked up at the high ceilings of the house that he grew up in. Memories of laughter echoing around him as he straightened his posture and placed his glass of milk on the table in front of them. He looked at Yamaguchi-kaa-san and saw that whilst her eyes were red-rimmed from hidden tears, none of them dared to fall. 

“Why did you…”

“...keep this all hidden from you?” She finished; a knowing smile on her lips, “We wanted to give you as close to a normal life as possible; both you and Tadashi… after everything you had experienced, we thought that we were granting you a kindness.”

He frowned thoughtfully and pulled absently at his fingers,

“And Akiteru?”

Yamaguchi-kaa-san sighed softly and moved the hand that was clasped around his wrist to the back of his head; her fingers running through his hair soothingly. Kei felt himself listing to the side slightly so that his head was resting on her slim shoulder. Taking comfort in an action that he hadn’t indulged in in years. 

“Tadashi met him before we did.” She whispered, “It was during one of the summers he spent with his paternal grandparents; we wanted to tell you, but…”

Kei hummed under his breath,

“That seems to be the party-line these days.”

She chuckled under her breath,

“I’m sorry that we can’t offer anything better than that.”

He sighed under his breath and lifted his head off her shoulder. With some hesitation, he leaned forward and picked up his glass of milk from the table. He raised it to his lips and took a small sip before placing it back on the table; the once comforting drink making his stomach twist restlessly. 

“Did Yamaguchi even go to his paternal grandparents during those summers or was that just a cover for something else?” 

Yamaguchi-kaa-san smiled softly and flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder,

“He was at his grandparents, he was just doing a little more than you initially thought is all.”

Kei pursed his lips thoughtfully,

“The magic?”

She hummed softly in response and tapped the tip of her nose with her finger. She ran her hand through Kei’s hair once more before slowly pushing herself off the settee. She pressed her lips to his crown and wandered towards the kitchen.

“Tadashi and the others are out in the yard,” She explained, “You should probably head on out there and get to know them; you’ll be around them for quite some time I gather.”

Kei frowned and glanced away,

“Do I have to?”

Yamaguchi-kaa-san chuckled lightly and rummaged around in the cabinets,

“They will probably be able to answer all your other questions better than I ever could.”

Kei’s frown deepened and he glowered at the closed glass door that led to the back garden. He fiddled absently with his fingers before sighing loudly under his breath. He pushed himself to his feet and fought back a wince as his knees cracked and groaned in protest. He debated grabbing his milk only to decide that it would be better for him to return for it later. 

He wandered to the sliding glass door and pushed it open, sliding his slippers onto his feet as he took a step into the garden. The early evening wind pulled gently at the strands of his hair as he took in the sweet smells that permeated the air around him. He glanced upward and noted that the sky still had the pinkish-yellow hues of sunset, but the light colours were slowly giving way to the sweet colour of deep indigo. He quickly and quietly made his way to his favourite spot in the garden hoping that his ‘protectors’ wouldn’t take note of his presence. 

And if they did notice, maybe they’d follow their self-preservation instincts and leave him alone.

He approached the lone black pine tree that resided in the garden; it’s long limbs branching towards the sky and towards the sun basking in its last embrace. He slid down the rough bark of the tree until his butt landed on the gnarled roots and pulled his knees up to his chest while resting his head in his arms exhaustedly. Despite having just woken up from a nap, he wanted nothing more than to return back to his bed.

Perhaps if he tried to sleep just one last time, he would finally wake up from this nightmare. 

His gaze unknowingly wandered to Akiteru and Yamaguchi who sat on the opposite end of the garden and were whispering quietly with Matsukawa and Akaashi. If anyone were to catch him sneaking out in the garden it would’ve been those two. At the moment they seemed to be engrossed in some kind of conversation, and honestly he couldn’t be more thankful.

He loved Akiteru. A small part of him was happy about the fact that his brother was  _ back _ . But another part of him, a larger part, would not let him forget that Akiteru could have returned for him at any time. He just chose not to. Kei closed his eyes and leaned his head against the bark; trailing his gaze across the little pine needles that lingered above his head. 

He couldn’t remember very much from that time. That moment when he met the Yamaguchis for the first time and they took him in. He remembered bits and pieces. He remembered wandering into Torono and he remembered being lost and walking aimlessly in the main street. But beyond that? Nothing. Just the feeling that Akiteru was gone and that he probably was never coming back. Now to have him appear after all this time. Healthy. Happy. It changed absolutely everything.

And then there was the completely different matter of Yamaguchi. 

It was expected for Akiteru to hide things from him; he hadn’t seen him in years. But for Yamaguchi to be hiding things too? That was almost out of character for him. And no matter how much Kei wanted to bury it down and deny it, his heart hurt. It hurt that Yamaguchi felt the need to hide this whole other world from him and he wasn’t quite sure if he’d be able to get over it quickly. If there was one thing Tsukishima Kei was good at, it was holding grudges.

“Hey,” A voice whispered beside him, “Sleeping beauty finally decided to grace us with his presence.”

Kei jumped and had to clench his teeth to prevent an embarrassing sound from escaping him. He turned his head and he found himself looking into the liquid gold eyes of Kuroo Tetsurou. He shifted his eyes to the ground and sighed tiredly; a migraine already building behind his eyebrows.

“If I wanted your commentary Kuroo-san, I would’ve found you myself.”

Kuroo cackled obnoxiously as he sat next to the blond and closed his eyes pensively; no doubt pretending to be disinterested, “You probably want to know why Tokai is after you and your place in all this, right?”

Kei pursed his lips and folded his arms in his lap,

“Yes, but the person I should speak to is someone I don’t really feel like putting my time and effort into.”

Kuroo hummed thoughtfully and scratched at his chin,

“Tsukki, he just thought that he was doing the best for you. He loves you a lot you know. They both do.”

He hunched forward and tried to draw himself into an even tighter ball. His honey brown eyes landed on his brother and Yamaguchi again and he couldn’t help but notice their tight shoulders and wandering eyes despite the fact that they both had reassuring smiles on their faces. Kei felt his hands clenching against his knees in annoyance and frustration.

“It’s so pointless.”

He felt Kuroo stiffen slightly beside him,

“What do you mean Tsukki?”

Kei was silent for a moment gathering his thoughts:

“They have already done more than enough, and I wonder if they’re just tired of it all.”

Silence met his statement, but he knew that Kuroo wasn’t going to let him leave it at that. He could feel the raven’s penetrating and analytical gaze sweeping over him as the silence stretched on. It was in moments like this that Kei couldn’t help but wonder who exactly the real Kuroo Tetsurou was.

“I’ve been a burden to the both of them for the majority of my childhood,” Kei stated bluntly; staring into the distance at nothing in particular, “Akiteru did everything and suffered everything just to make sure that I wouldn’t be hurt. Yamaguchi was a constant presence at my side, my best friend, when everyone else was too intimidated by me to approach me.”

The sound of cicadas reached his ears in the response to his long winded spiel. It felt as though a small burden had been lifted from his chest upon his admissions. He fiddled with his fingers as the two listened to the sounds of nature playing around them. This had to be the most insight he has given anyone about himself and his thought processes.

Kuroo laughed half-heartedly; drawing Kei out of his thoughts,

“I’m not going to argue with you on that. I have some experience in that department after all.”

Kei pursed his lips thoughtfully; the image of a shorter, pudding-headed neko,

“Did the same thing happen in regards to Kenma-san?”

He felt Kuroo jolt from beside him and Kei knew that he had once again overstepped his boundaries. Only unlike Iwaizumi, he didn’t feel the inclination to dig his claws even deeper. He didn’t feel the need to tear Kuroo open and expose all his pain and insecurities. Kei frowned to himself absently; that in itself was a little off-putting.

Kei watched the older male with analytical eyes and noticed that he was starting to close himself off. A growingly, familiar smirk started to tug at the corner of his lips. Kei clicked his tongue silently and found his eyes wandering over to Akaashi, Yamaguchi, Akiteru and a surprisingly quiet Bokuto; even if the black and silver haired man did seem like he was about to vibrate right out of his clothing. He had initially believed that Kuroo was an overgrown child. He had nothing on Bokuto.

Kei adjusted his glasses as he noticed that they slid down his nose and searched for another question to grasp onto. Something that was safer. Something that Kuroo would be willing to talk to him about. There was something in his gut telling him that if he didn’t change the course of the conversation now, then he would lose his chance to ask anymore questions of Kuroo tonight.

“So you, Kuroo-san, can manipulate water,” Kei began hesitantly; smiling to himself as he realised that the raven’s attention slowly snapped back to him, “Akiteru can somehow replicate things and Yamaguchi can summon things. What about the other merry band of misfits?”

The raven blinked at the sudden change in subject and smiled coyly,

“Why Tsukki, I didn’t know you were so interested in all of us~”

“Tch,” The blond turned away from Kuroo’s smirk, “If you are all meant to ‘protect me’, whatever the hell that means, I should know what to expect so that none of you idiots accidentally kill me.”

“Ouch!” Kuroo whined petulantly; grasping onto his heart in mock offense, “That’s hurtful Tsukki, we have more control than that.”

Kei raised an eyebrow and fought the instinct to smile teasingly,

“I thought I told you not to call me that, Kuroo-san.”

The raven shrugged his shoulders and stared at Kei down his nose,

“I’ll stop calling you ‘Tsukki’ when you drop the formalities and stop calling me ‘Kuroo-san’. It makes me think you’re talking to my old man.”

Kei straightened his shoulders and smirked in response,

“I didn’t want to mention it Kuroo-san, but you are getting a little up there in years. I think I even see grey hair.”

Kuroo leaned against the base of the tree and banged the back of his head against the rough bark as he flailed dramatically,

“Tsukki, you wound me! I’m only nineteen!”

“You could have fooled me Kuroo-san.” Kei mumbled; his smirk growing, “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“Well,” Kuroo huffed through his nose; once again tapping his chin thoughtfully, “Bo controls fire; which could be some sort of cosmic joke because it’s almost like giving a child a lit match and telling them to run wild.”

Kei winced at the thought of Bokuto running around with a lit match. The results were somewhat terrifying. A lot of eccentric screaming. A lot of mistimed bursts of magic. A lot of rainforests possibly getting destroyed somewhere. Overall, a disaster. No matter how unintentional the fire might be.

“But surprisingly,” Kuroo pulled him out of his imaginings, “when it comes to controlling their magic, Bo is one of the best. He’s able to use his flames to not only decimate his opponents, but also to protect his friends and loved ones. I have never seen someone use fire magic as well as Bokuto.”

Kei tilted his head slightly as he detected the hint of fondness that Kuroo carried in his tone. As he looked closer at the water-user he could see that his golden gaze had softened and that an even softer smile had graced his normally sharp features. He resisted the urge to grasp his chest as he felt a strange warmth encompass his core; a warmth that swirled around his heart and threatened to spread out to the rest of his extremities. 

He frowned to himself thoughtfully; curling his hands into loose fists in his lap, hidden from Kuroo’s view. Could it be that Kuroo...His eyebrows furrowed contemplatively as the warmth that swallowed his chest slowly started to dissipate; no doubt because the raven’s attention had shifted to the shortest and tallest, bar himself, of their little party. 

“Iwaizumi is by far one of the strongest mages I’ve come to know,” Kuroo admitted without hesitation; perhaps with even a little reverence in his tone, “Well, at least on the other side of the Miyagi Prefecture.”

Kei nodded absently in acknowledgement and noted that Iwaizumi was seated in the position he had taken earlier that day; criss-cross in the grass with eyes closed. Only now it seemed as though the very earth wasn’t giving him much of a choice; the taller blades of grass and smaller roots grasping firmly onto his legs and hands. Matsukawa was still sitting by his side, though his eyes were also closed and he seemed to be taking a nap of his own. His head rested somewhat comfortably on Iwaizumi’s shoulder.

“And what magic does he have?”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow at the inquisitive tone,

“His magic is Earth-based; perhaps one of the most powerful wielders of the element. The guy is as stubborn as a boulder though, so perhaps it’s fitting.”

The blond hummed thoughtfully and watched the pair across the garden; both seemingly in their own worlds, yet existing cohesively. Despite their codependency, there was still that sense of guilt and loathing that seemed to waif of Iwaizumi. Almost like a scent that would not leave him alone no matter how much he tried. If he looked deep enough in Matsukawa, he could faintly sense the same sadness. Not as deep, but still painful nonetheless. 

“Am I right in assuming that Matsukawa-san’s magic has something to do with metal?”

The raven grinned sharply and inclined his head,

“That he does. I’m guessing you noticed his armour earlier?”

Kei shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch the two mages. He frowned to himself and squinted as he noticed a strange  _ tether _ branching from Matsukawa to Iwaizumi. He absently fiddled with his glasses, thinking it was some trick of the light only to see that the greenish-silver strand still connected the two. He shook his head faintly and rubbed his eyes underneath his frames; freezing minutely when he could feel Kuroo’s gaze on him once more. 

“And what about Akaashi-san?” Kei tried to distract both Kuroo and himself from the enigmatic pair, “He’d have to have some type of powerful magic to deal with Bokuto-san.”

Kuroo snorted unattractively and guffawed loudly,

“Surprisingly his magic has nothing to do with that. That’s just pure patience and practice from having to deal with Bo for so long; the two of them grew up together in Tokyo and haven’t really separated since.”

Kei frowned in confusion,

“Haven’t separated?”

“What Kuroo-san is trying to say, very ineffectively I might add, is that I am not specifically tied to you. The source of my magic is actually tied to Bokuto-san.”

Kei felt Kuroo jump beside him as Akaashi’s presence swept over them. He would be lying if he said his heart was pounding from the brunet’s sudden appearance. Akaashi was truly able to move around like a ghost. Clearly seeing the confusion that was still present on Kei’s face, Akaashi turned towards Kuroo,

“Kuroo-san, why don’t you go over and keep Bokuto-san company while I explain some things to Tsukishima-kun.”

Kuroo pouted at the shorter male playfully,

“But ‘Kaashi, I was talking with Tsukki~ You can’t just come here and sweep him of his feet~”

Kei felt his cheeks heat up and he looked away from the two men in order to hide it. Kuroo was absolutely ridiculous; from his bedhead to his provoking demeanor. He scowled petulantly and fiddled with the sleeves of his jumper. He was only pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a warm hand ruffle his blond curls. He hissed like a cat that had been drenched in water and swatted at Kuroo’s hands.

“Kuroo-san.”

The raven cackled, but removed his hand without complaint,

“Akaashi can take over the questions from here, yeah? I’ll talk to you later Tsukki!”

Kei nodded; his annoyance at Kuroo’s actions still evident on his face. The sound of crickets and frogs travelled into his ears, soothing his frantic thoughts with the comforting noise. It helped him know that no matter how drastically his own life changed, the world around him would continue living as it was. The crickets would forever sing for the night and the frogs would forever accompany them in a never-ending symphony.

“I’ve known Bokuto-san since we were children and I’ve been taking care of him for a long time. My magic in particular exists to tame Bokuto-san’s magic if he were to ever lose himself.” Akaashi’s stoic voice travelled into his ears; joining in with nature’s orchestra, “But more than anything, I just want Bokuto-san to keep being his carefree, idiotic self. You’ll come to understand that he’s his best self when he is that way.”

Even though Akaashi seemed like the type of person who kept his cards close to his chest, Kei could see how much he cared for Bokuto. It was in the fondness that rested in his blue eyes as he watched the taller male flit around each of the group members laughing loudly at something or another. In fact, at that moment, the pair watched as Bokuto and Kuroo approached Matsukawa and Iwaizumi who had yet to move from their chosen spot.

“Oya?” Bokuto chirped.

“Oya, Oya?” Kuroo echoed as they approached the segregated pair; his signature provoking smirk on his face.

“Don’t take another step,” Iwaizumi’s eyes snapped open as he glared at them, “I will end you.”

“But Iwa~” Bokuto whined as he leaned into the spiky haired males space, “You’re being so broody and I don’t like it.”

Once again Kei could sense the self-loathing and guilt coming off the shorter male in waves. How he was able to even function at this point was surprising to him; it had to be suffocating. But, if there was one thing that he could understand it was pride. He didn’t have to know Iwaizumi intimately to know that pride was a huge factor in his character. Kei swallowed thickly as he took in Iwaizumi’s tense shoulders; the ground underneath them all waited with baited breath for the Earth user’s next move.

Iwaizumi scowled before pushing Bokuto’s face away,

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Come on Iwaizumi,” Kuroo smirked playfully, “You have to be dying to let off a little steam; you’ve been mighty tense the last couple of days.”

The shorter brunet clenched his teeth and buried his hands into the ground,

“It is not your concern. Back off tom cat.”

Even from where he was sitting, Kei could see that Kuroo’s eyes narrowed at the nickname; his own hand starting to twitch at his side. The blond frowned to himself as he took in the raven’s growingly tense stature. However, his attention was drawn from Kuroo briefly when he heard Akaashi release an exasperated sigh from beside him.

“Bokuto-san, Kuroo-san,” Akaashi stared at the two instigators in disapproval, “Leave Iwaizumi-san alone.”

The silver haired male pouted,

“But ‘Kaashi…”

Kuroo on the other hand seemed to straighten his posture and placed one of his hands on his hip, raising his chin so that he seemed infinitely taller than Iwaizumi. Kei’s eyebrows furrowed as he noticed that Iwaizumi had started to grow even more tense. The ground groaning and rumbling ominously from beneath their very feet. Kei glanced over at Akaashi and noticed that he had a thoughtful frown on his face; his gunmetal gaze focused intensely on the pair facing off across the yard. 

“Hajime, knock it off.”

Matsukawa tutted at the shorter male reprovingly; opening one of his eyes lazily; something akin to calmness or acquiescence suddenly spreading throughout the Earth mover’s body. Iwaizumi pushed himself to his feet and started to make his way back towards the house once more. His feet falling heavily against the earth as he disappeared from view.

“Kuroo, was that really necessary?” Matsukawa scowled as he slowly pushed himself upright.

The raven refused to deign the taller male with an answer. Matsukawa pushed himself forward and pressed his index finger against Kuroo’s chest; his own magic replenishing the pressure that Iwaizumi’s magic had left behind. 

“Next time you try to start something you can’t finish,” Matsukawa muttered forcefully, “I won’t stop him from releasing some of his pent up aggression; you hear me?”

Kuroo rolled his eyes childishly, but he nodded his head regardless. Appeased that his message was received, Matsukawa forced himself around the water and fire mage to follow his shorter half into the house. When the glass door slid closed behind him, Akaashi released a loud sigh before pushing himself to his own feet. He strode across the grass and approached both Kuroo and Bokuto; his hands firmly on his hips.

“Was that really necessary Kuroo-san, Bokuto-san?” He purposefully parroted Matsukawa, “You both know that during this time of year Iwaizumi-san is a little more stressed.”

Kei frowned as he stored away that little tidbit of information; yet another piece of the puzzle that was Iwaizumi.

“Sorry ‘Kaashi!” Bokuto chirped remorsefully; rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

“Yeah, sorry.” Kuroo waved in his general direction before making off towards the house himself; a frown still firmly etched on his face.

The silver haired mage watched his friend wander off and looked between him and Akaashi in utter confusion. His head bouncing back and forth between the two as though he were watching an intense rally. After a moment, Bokuto whined under his breath before deciding to make his way over to Yamaguchi and Akiteru who were pretending that they didn’t witness any of what happened.

Kei sighed loudly and got to his feet, moving away from his tree to stand next to Akaashi. The shorter male still had his hands firmly on his hips and his calculating gaze was anchored on Kuroo who was sitting next to the sliding glass door with a pout. The blond shook his head exasperatedly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“They’re seriously like children.”

“Yes,” Akaashi agreed without hesitation, “But their impulsivity is almost refreshing at times; even if it’s mostly just tiresome.”

Kei wasn’t sure if he could agree with Akaashi on that one. His eyes trailed over to Yamaguchi and Akiteru once more; those two could be surprisingly impulsive when they wanted to be and that was almost the worst kind. When they were impulsive, it wasn’t expected and since it wasn’t expected he didn’t know how to guard against it. That’s how they got into this situation in the first place.

He was just about to say so when the sound of the glass door opening cut him off. Those remaining in the back garden turned towards the opening and saw Yamaguchi-kaa-san. Her apron was covered in stains and she still had oven gloves covering her hands. She smiled softly and waved,

“Alright, dinner is ready; go get washed up.”


	7. Late Evening Row

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a quiet dinner, Kei finally finds the courage to ask Akiteru about what is exactly is going on, only for fractured bridges to breakdown even further.

Kei leaned against the couch and rested his hands on either side of him; his eyes growing heavy as the meal Yamaguchi-kaa-san sat comfortably in his stomach. He released a relaxed breath and stared up the ceiling as he embraced the calm silence that engulfed the room. The only sound he could hear was the water hitting the sink as Yamaguchi-kaa-san took care of the dishes. Kei and the others offered to handle the dishes as she had made the dinner, but quickly ran away to the lounge when she all but threatened to chase after them with a wooden spoon and some sort of magic spell on her lips. 

As he glanced around the lounge, he quickly noticed that the others were either relaxing or sleeping in various areas all around him. Yamaguchi was sitting on the other side of the long couch with his head leaning awkwardly on his own shoulder. His chest rising and falling rhythmically as he continued to remain dead to the world. Meanwhile, Matsukawa was leaning against the arm of the chaise opposite Kei, with Iwaizumi leaning into his side sleeping peacefully. Even if until now, peace was definitely something that he would never equate to Iwaizumi.

Although perhaps the strangest thing about Matsukawa and Iwaizumi’s configuration was that Bokuto had somehow managed to squeeze himself beside the two males; his eyes closed and his arms thrown haphazardly against his neighbours’ limbs. How he managed to even fall asleep and continue to do so without bothering Iwaizumi was beyond him. Especially considering all the protesting Iwaizumi and Matsukawa grunted out when Bokuto situated himself there in the first place.

Kei had to prevent a smirk from spreading across his lips when he heard Bokuto’s random snorts and snores echoing throughout the room. Strangely, the sound made almost a soothing type of ambiance. A sound that should be annoying, but only worked to create the sense of calm and normalcy that the blond didn’t even realise he had been missing. 

Unsurprisingly, Akaashi was beside Bokuto, also seemingly sleeping with his head pillowed on the broader male’s shoulder. His forehead free from wrinkles and his lips slightly parted as he breathed lightly. Despite the calm relaxation that emanated from Akaashi’s slumbering form, he had a feeling that if someone were to approach them with ill-intent, the brunet would probably have them incapacitated without even opening his eyes. Kei frowned to himself at the thought; Akaashi was such a conundrum and he wanted nothing more than to solve him.

Kei huffed thoughtfully before turning his gaze to the person closest to him; fighting off the urge to sigh in pure exasperation. The bed-headed raven was lying in the middle of the couch with his face pressed into the creases of the back of the couch; his face completely hidden from view. How the idiot was even still  _ breathing _ whilst sleeping like that was a question all in itself. Not that he was worried or anything. Just intrigued.

“That can’t be healthy.” He muttered aloud; shaking his head slightly in disbelief.

“That’s just Kuroo for you,” Akiteru’s voice came quietly from beside him, “He’s actually worse when he’s in a bed.”

Kei jumped slightly from his brother’s sudden interjection and felt his cheeks turn red. He did not think that he had said that loud enough for anyone to hear him AND he thought the elder Tsukishima was sleeping. The traitor. He frowned as he registered what his older brother had said. He adjusted his glasses again to give his blush time to disappear completely before looking his brother in the eyes.

“How would you know that nii-san?”

Akiteru’s teasing smile shrank and his eyes seemed to grow a little distant; pain rising in his gaze,

“I’m sure that you don’t actually need me to answer that.”

The younger blond rolled his eyes and glanced away in annoyance. He frowned at Akiteru’s prolonged silence, but waited for the older blond to come up with an excuse. Akiteru was good at making up excuses.

“As Kuroo told you earlier, we met a couple years back on an assignment,” Akiteru began, “We had to share a hotel room and I legitimately thought he was going to smother himself.”

Kei tugged on his fingers pensively and pursed his lips,

“An assignment for what?”

Akiteru sighed from beside him and ran a hand through his hair; averting his gaze,

“It was so long ago, I honestly can’t even remember. Kuroo was heading somewhere for something in particular, and his guild master wouldn’t let him go alone; he asked if someone from Karasuno would be willing to help.”

The younger blond pursed his lips in confusion,

“Guild master? Karasuno?”

A tense silence engulfed the pair of them; the only sounds being Bokuto’s snoring and the distant sound of Yamaguchi-kaa-san washing the dishes. Kei waited for Akiteru to offer up some sort of explanation, but was not surprised when the older blond didn’t provide him one willingly. The younger Tsukishima felt his scowl and annoyance returned full-force. Kei clenched his fists in his lap and forced himself to take deep breaths through his nose.

He noticed the look of utter defeat that plagued his older brother’s features and even if he was mad at him, he didn’t like that look on his face. That expression just didn’t suit Akiteru and it never would. He had witnessed that expression countless times throughout his childhood when Akiteru felt that he had failed in some way.

Kei sighed silently; attempting to release the tension that gathered in his chest,

“What’s wrong?”

Akiteru bit the corner of his lip before speaking,

“I’m so sorry Kei; I should’ve sought you out much earlier than this.”

“Yeah, you should have.” He responded bluntly.

The mirage mage blinked at him owlishly in surprise, but his eyes quickly dropped to his feet again. Kei waited patiently for his brother’s next move; it was up to Akiteru if he wanted this talk to continue. No matter how much Kei wanted to have answers, no matter how much he deserved to have answers, he knew that pressuring Akiteru wasn’t the way to go about it.

“It’s just,” Akiteru ran his fingers through his hair, “I just don’t know where to start.”

“The beginning would be nice.” Kei rolled his eyes, “Tell me more about this magic thing. How is it even possible and how does no one know about it? And you better not try and feed me some Harry Potter nonsense about muggles or no-mages. As if non-magic people could be tricked for that long.”

The older blond chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck,

“They do have those memory erasing spells you know.”

“Not the point nii-san.” He deadpanned stubbornly.

Akiteru chuckled under his breath and patted Kei on the shoulder almost consolingly,

“Okay, okay, you might have a point.”

“Of course I do.” Kei clicked his tongue before glancing away petulantly; a pout definitely not forming on his lips.

The brothers sat in silence for a brief moment as Akiteru seemed to gather his thoughts. Kei resisted the urge to pick at his nails and cuticles as he waited. He found himself looking aimlessly around the room once more and taking note of all the sleeping figures in the room. All still sleeping soundly, some only having moved slightly over the last couple of minutes as they tried to find comfortable positions on the couches they were sitting on. 

It was only now that he realised the sound of water hitting the sink had dissipated and now the only sound that permeated the air was Bokuto’s snoring. However, if he strained his ears he could hear Yamaguchi-kaa-san’s voice coming from deeper within the house. Maybe she was calling Yamaguchi-otou-san to fill him in on everything that has happened today. That was bound to be a very long conversation in itself.

“So,” Akiteru began softly; leaning against the back of the chair, “the ‘magic world’ is a lot like this one, but it’s a lot harder to get to; so, most people do not actually know it exists, unless of course they accidentally wander into it. Even then, they would only be granted entry if they had magic of their own inside of them.”

Kei frowned; he raised an eyebrow in inherent disbelief,

“Nii-san, I thought I told you not to pull any Harry Potter nonsense.”

Akiteru laughed quietly,

“That’s the thing Kei, it’s not nonsense. Magic has always been real. Hell, maybe the writer of that series had some sort of magic all her own; I guess we’ll never truly know. But here, our magic, it’s governed just like the non-magic world.”

When the younger blond didn’t offer up any further comment, Akiteru pushed forward; his hands starting to move emphatically as he started to delve further into his explanation.

“There is a government, and a justice system that govern the world and ensure that the portals that lead to the magic world remain in place. There are families, there are workers, there are homeless people, there are people who are innocent and there are people who are criminals. In all honesty, the magic world acts kind of like a mirror image to this one.”

Kei hummed to show that he was still following what Akiteru was telling him and straightened his body posture to show that he was interested. His mind was already swirling with unlimited questions as he tried to retain everything that his older brother was finally telling him.

“But in the center of it all, the Pillars are what regulate the use of magic in the magic and Non-Magic World. The pillars are like power-hubs that govern each of the entrances and makes sure that no one tampers with them.”

Kei pushed his glasses up thoughtfully,

“Entrances? How many are there?”

Akiteru’s face fell; a sadness making his face drawn and pale as the question sunk into the room. He was almost worried that the older blond would avoid the question, but after a moment, Akiteru seemed to straighten; a loud sigh of resignation leaving his lips as he looked Kei in the eyes. The younger Tsukishima swallowed thickly as a wave of sadness and guilt washed over him. He resisted the urge to grasp onto his chest at the overwhelming emotions and instead dug his fingers into the sides of his thighs where Akiteru wouldn’t be able to see them. 

“The Pillars are strategically placed in different areas of Japan where the ley lines, which are the places where spiritual energy gathers, are intersecting. Most of the pillars used to be located in Miyagi Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture, and in various of the wards in Tokyo itself.”

Kei bit the corner of his lip,

“But?”

Akiteru averted his gaze and fiddled the crease of the couch cushion resting behind him,

“Most of the pillars have fallen and have been falling for a very long time. In fact, you’ve visited one of the ruins recently.”

The younger blond’s eyes widened in shock; his heart catching in his throat,

“Datekyo Castle. That, that was one of the pillars?”

The older blond hummed,

“The very same.”

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense,” Kei’s eyebrows furrowed, “Datekyo Castle has been in ruins for almost two centuries, but the way you’re talking, the entrance at Datekyo Castle has only just been compromised.”

Akiteru shrugged his shoulders weakly, as if he was hoping it would be response enough; although a frown quickly tugged on the corner of his lips as Kei continued to stare at him expectantly.

“Magic is a complicated entity Kei,” He eventually whispered, “It reacts in strange ways and exists on a plain all its own. Would it be entirely strange for it to ignore the laws of time itself?”

Kei glanced down at his own hands; the pads of his fingers tingling in a familiar way as the light that thrummed beneath his own skin responded to the rhetorical question. If the old woman at the ruins was anything to go by, time and magic had a fairly tenuous relationship at best. Didn’t she say something along the lines of him being able to manipulate time? He frowned to himself and curled his hands into loose fists. When he felt Akiteru’s eyes on him again, he let his hands relax and let himself get swallowed by the mocha brown gaze in front of him. He could feel his brother’s conflicted and worried emotions as if they were his own.

“Nii-san?” Kei raised an inquiring eyebrow.

“I just,” Akiteru sighed in frustration and clenched his fists over his knees, “I just wish that I could have spared you from all of this.”

The younger blond frowned pensively,

“From what I understand, you had absolutely no control over any of this. Whatever  _ this _ is.”

Akiteru sighed and wrapped a firm hand around Kei’s wrist; his thumb running soothingly over the slightly protruding wrist bone. Instinctively, almost as though he was reacting to a feeling long forgotten, he felt his shoulders relax even more; the tension subtly building behind his blades and his neck starting to ease. A warmth started to swirl deep in his chest as his brother’s love and affection seemed to transmute into him; giving him a hug that he always wanted to feel again, even if he didn’t even realise it. 

“Nii-san,” He whispered; waiting for Akiteru’s responding hum before he pushed forward, “Why is Tokai after me? What makes me so special that he had to kill Kaa-san over it?”

Unsurprisingly, the soothing movement on his wrist froze. Slowly, the warmth that was building in his chest started to dissipate and was instead filled with a growing unease. A frost-bitten void that pulled on his organs and threatened to shut him down from the inside out. He immediately noticed as his own magic pushed itself through his skin; the golden designs branching across his pale skin in an effort to combat the growing darkness.

“Kei,”

“No.” He cut him off implicitly, “No, you’re not running away from this nii-san; I deserve to know.”

“And I’ll tell you.” He whispered emphatically, “But not tonight. It’s too much to get into and I don’t want to upset you. Especially with Daishou hovering around somewhere.”

Kei clicked his tongue and folded his arms across his chest,

“What, you think I’m going to run off or something? I’m not that pathetic.”

Akiteru groaned in frustration; running the palm of his hand down his face,

“I never said that you were. Stop putting words in my mouth.”

Kei stared resolutely ahead of himself and crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. He knew that he was probably acting like a spoiled brat, but damnit, this was getting ridiculous. Well, if he was honest things have probably reached past ridiculous and they were probably now in the realm of insanity.

“Nii-san, you can’t run from this forever.” Kei stated matter-of-factly, “I need to know who I am and what is going on.”

Akiteru frowned resolutely,

“I said ‘No’, Kei. I refuse to hurt you anymore tonight than I already have; I’ll tell you when you’re ready to hear it and not a second sooner.”

The younger Tsukishima’s eyes narrowed dangerously; the darkness rising in his chest like a raging storm,

“You’re already hurting me Akiteru, answering my one question is not going to make it any worse.”

The older Tsukishima flinched as though he had been struck by Kei’s barbed words. Akiteru closed his eyes and sighed loudly before pushing himself to his feet; his body swaying as he reorientated himself. He opened his mouth as though he was going to say something, but he quickly closed it. He shook his head minutely before he turned on his heel and made his way out of the lounge and towards the back of the house. Seemingly as far away from Kei as he could possibly get.

Kei frowned to himself and clenched his fists at his sides; his fingernails digging so deeply into his skin that his palms burned. The darkness that seemed to be gathering in his chest since Akiteru refused to answer his question only grew larger; making even his extremities tighten as he felt himself sinking deeper and deeper into the anger and sadness. It was like he was  _ drowning _ .

“Tsukki,” A voice whispered softly; the voice nearly lost in the static in his ears, “Sh, Tsukki, it’s okay. Take a deep breath with me now.”

He clenched his hands even tighter; wincing slightly as he felt his nails finally broke through the soft skin of his palms. Still the rising tide seemed to grow higher and higher. Smothering him deeper and deeper. At this point he couldn’t even remember where he was. Which was up or down. Which way was the way out or the way further in. He felt his breath stutter in his chest as he folded deeper into himself. At this point he was going to disappear all together. And it wouldn’t matter if he did.

If anything it would make it easier on everyone who was involved. Whatever this entire mess was hinged on him. Whatever was going on depended on his action. His decisions. His fate. If he just let himself sink, maybe everyone tied to him would be free. Maybe they could live the way that they wanted. Maybe…

Something cool wrapped tightly around his clenched fists. 

Instinctively, he flinched away, wanting to get as far away from the touch as possible. But the coolness refused to yield. Instead of retreating, the coolness seemed to wrap around his hand even tighter. Traveling calmly up his arm and spreading soothingly over his shoulder and halting completely once it found what it was looking for. All at once, a balm was placed over the darkness that was swirling in his chest; the anger, resentment, and fear ebbing away as calm started to wash over him like a wave.

Soon enough, breathing became easier. Kei breathed in deeply and held it in his chest cavity for four seconds before releasing it for eight. In for four. Out for eight. In for four. Out for eight. Eventually he started to get feeling back into his extremities; he hadn’t even realised that they had gotten numb. Lethargically, he opened his eyes (not that he noticed he had closed them), and took in his surroundings. 

The first thing he was greeted with was the sound of Bokuto’s snores; the grating sound still somehow soothing in the atmosphere around them. Iwaizumi was still snuggled into Matsukawa’s side, though a soft frown had begun to stretch over his features. As though sensing the Earth mover’s distress, the Metal manipulator was lightly rubbing his thumb over his back. Kei looked on the other side of the lounge and saw that Yamaguchi was still sound asleep; now curled into a tight ball with his head resting against the arm rest and his soft breaths mirroring Bokuto’s loud snores in perfect symphony.

Kei took another deep breath as something cool squeezed around his hand; jumping slightly in surprise. He turned his head and immediately met Kuroo’s golden eyed gaze. Somehow his raven hair was even messier than usual; the longer strands of his fringe falling into his line of sight. A small frown was tugging at the corner of his normally smirking lips as he gazed into every aspect of Kei that he so desperately wanted to hide.

He felt his face slowly turning red as embarrassment started to flare up inside him. He tried to pull his hand out of Kuroo’s reach and create some space between them, only for the Water user’s grip to tighten. He was about to try again, when he felt something, or he guessed someone, squeezed his other hand. He turned his head and met the all-knowing gunmetal gaze of Akaashi; a soft, reassuring light in his eyes.

“Tsukishima-kun,” Akaashi whispered sternly, “Please do not be difficult.”

If it was possible, he felt his cheeks heat up even more. However, he didn’t try to pull his hands away from either of them again. His left knee started to bounce up and down nervously as both Akaashi and Kuroo moved themselves a little closer to him, raising his clenched hands away from his sides. He watched almost mesmerised as the pair of mages simultaneously worked to pry his fingers away from the palms of his hands. He fought back a flinch as a light hiss worked its way past Kuroo’s lips when a combined ten crescent moons appeared before their eyes. 

“Tsukki, that looks painful.”

Kei shrugged his shoulders and avoided his gaze,

“Wouldn’t be the first time it happened.”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Kuroo had cringed at the admission. His attention was pulled away by a soft tut coming from Akaashi. The shorter brunet seemed to be looking over both of Kei’s palms clinically before seemingly coming to a decision. Akaashi slowly released his hands, indicating for Kuroo to do the same.

“Come along now Tsukishima-kun,” Akaashi instructed as he pushed himself to his feet, “Let’s get those cleaned up.”

Kei blinked at him owlishly,

“Really Akaashi-san, I…”

“I wouldn’t bother,” Kuroo cut him off as he too got to his feet; one hand on his hip and the other held out to Kei, “There’s no sense in arguing with Akaashi; he’ll get his way no matter how much you try.”

The blond couldn’t help but laugh softly behind the back of his hand,

“It’s almost as though you’re speaking from experience Kuroo-san.”

At the sound of his laugh, Kuroo’s tense shoulders relaxed slightly; his own frown started to ease into something a bit more open. Again, Kei felt his cheeks warming up. He shifted his gaze to the ground and pulled absently at his fingers.

“Kuroo-san, perhaps you can regale Tsukishima-kun with Bokuto-san’s and your tales of idiocy whilst I clean up his hands.” Akaashi smirked with a raised eyebrow.

The raven pressed his hand to his chest and leaned back dramatically,

“Akaashi, how can you call them our tales of idiocy? It’s like you’re passing judgement on mine and Bo’s very essence.”

Akaashi rolled his eyes and pressed his hand to his temple,

“It’s probably because I am.”

Kei felt the corner of his lip twitch as yet another sound of dramatic pain escaped from Kuroo. It was enough to distract him when he suddenly felt Akaashi’s hands wrap around one of his wrists and pull him to his feet. He stumbled slightly at the surprising strength behind the brunet’s leverage, but he was easily steadied by Kuroo wrapping a loose arm around his shoulders. He fought back yet another blush that tried to spread across his face as he nearly fell against the raven’s chest.

He straightened his posture as much as he could and started to make his way to the kitchen. If he remembered correctly, Yamaguchi-kaa-san kept some plasters in one of the drawers next to the sink. He took small strides towards his destination; succinctly aware of Kuroo and Akaashi’s presences following behind him. But if he felt some semblance of comfort from said presences, it was going to be his little secret.


	8. Darkness Descends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When everything was going too well, it only makes sense for things to start their downward spiral.

Kei swallowed back a hiss as Akaashi’s careful hands worked effortlessly around his own. He watched silently as the shorter brunet methodically wound the pure, white gauze around the palms of his injured hands; taking the time to ensure that each of the crescent-shaped cuts were doused in hydro-peroxide before hiding them behind layers and layers of protection.

He could faintly hear Kuroo’s soft baritone in the background as he no doubt told stories upon stories about the stupid antics he and a certain silver-horned owl got up to in their spare time, as promised, but Kei could do nothing more than follow Akaashi’s gentle and precise movements. His gunmetal gaze focused intently on the task that was laid out before him. There was a sense of other-worldliness when it came to Akaashi. As if he didn’t quite belong on this plane of existence; more so than the others in their little troupe. 

Kei’s eyes narrowed analytically as he continued to trace the path that Akaashi’s hands took. A small frown tugged on the corner of his lips as he caught on to a faint dark silver glow around the male’s hands. The glow immediately made him think of his own magic, or perhaps even Akiteru’s light silver aura, but there was a strange sense of numbness. Every time he tried to latch onto it, it would disappear from his grasp. But one thing was certain, while Akaashi worked, everything seemed to become muted; the pain that he was previously feeling seemed next to non-existent. Just an echo of what it once was.

“Alright Tsukishima-kun,” The brunet hummed thoughtfully; his hands pulled away deftly, “Gently curl your hands into fists for me please. Not too much though, just enough to see if you have mobility.”

Kuroo’s incessant chatter seemed to die down as Kei slowly did as Akaashi asked. A small sound escaped from behind his teeth as he forced his hands to curl, but he was relieved to see that he still had some sort of mobility; even if the movement did pull a bit on the sores beneath the gauze. He found his frown making a reappearance as the numbness that accompanied Akaashi’s touch had disappeared as soon as his touch had. The minute throbbing pain had begun to take residence in the meat of his hand. 

“Thank you for your help Akaashi-san.” He muttered; his fingers moved and tugged absently at the looser gauze as he continued to watch the brunet closely.

Kei froze as the shorter male lightly tapped his hands with a disapproving tutt; immediately halting his absent-minded stimming in the process. Akaashi hummed under his breath again and simply inclined in his head. Kei fought back the urge to blush as Akasshi raised an eyebrow at him and started busying himself around the kitchen; clearing all the medical gear out the way and placing them back in the first aid kit where they belonged. 

“Not a problem at all Tsukishima-kun,” He walked over to the sink and bent down to put away the kit, “if you ever need us for anything, you simply need to ask. There’s no use in keeping things to yourself for you to handle alone.”

Kei felt his shoulders tense at the slight admonition; the back of his neck starting to heat up as embarrassment rushed through his body. Before he could even attempt to speak, to address what Akaashi might be hinting at, a calloused hand (that was becoming a little too familiar) wrapped around his fingers reassuringly. A calming chill swept through his body and made whatever anxiety he was beginning to feel dissipate. 

“Kuroo-san,” Kei released a breath; his golden gaze turned towards the bed-headed raven’s, “are you going to keep touching me without my consent or…”

The blond had to repress a laugh as Kuroo’s face started to turn red; his hand immediately removed itself from on top of him. Kei smirked as he watched the raven’s hand move restlessly at his side before moving to rub the back of his neck; a small smirk of his own spreading across his tanned face.

“It’s helped you the last couple of times hasn’t it?” The raven teased smoothly, “I’d say that you almost  _ enjoy _ my presence a little, Tsukki.”

Kei felt his cheeks getting warmer and warmer, “Oh please Kuroo-san, you can’t expect me to have control of my magic so quickly; I’m still growing into them after all.”

Kuroo chuckled under his breath and leaned against the counter with his arms folded over his chest,

“Whatever you say Tsukki.”

Kei scowled at Kuroo’s blase tone and mirrored his position; instead looking anywhere but at the water mage. He was so annoying. Acting like he knew absolutely everything. Reminded him of someone else he knew. He huffed loudly and pressed his fingers into his arms as annoyance started to tug at him once more.

“I know it’s not really our place,” Kuroo pulled him out of his thoughts, “but, if you want to talk about what happened with your brother, we can.”

Kei frowned and averted his gaze to the floor,

“It was nothing.”

“Right,” Kuroo snorted as he rolled his eyes teasingly, “what happened out there was definitely nothing. Just wanted to let you know that the offer was there, you know, in case it ever did become something.”

Kei shrugged his shoulders almost imperceptibly, but the bed-headed water mage seemed to take it as some sort of affirmation. With an exaggerated yawn, and a stretch that made his shoulders crack so loud that anyone around the kitchenette no doubt heard it, Kuroo pushed himself away from the table and started to make his way towards the lounge once more. His hand moving up to rub at the back of his head absently; his fingers somehow messing up the nest of hair even more.

“Anyways, I’m going to wake up the others; can’t risk staying here too long.”

“Good idea Kuroo-san,” Akaashi voiced from right near Kei’s ear; forcing the blond to hold back a jump, “Tsukishima-kun and I will wait here for Yamaguchi-san to come back from outside so that we may discuss our next steps.”

Kuroo waved towards them in some semblance of a response and made his exit. His cat-like movements became more and more pronounced as he walked into the lounge. There was no doubt in Kei’s mind that the serene silence that previously encompassed the house was going to shatter in a matter of moments. It was great while it lasted. He turned to Akaashi and noticed that the slighter brunet had the same exasperated look reflected in his gaze, though it was mostly shielded by his stoic countenance. 

“Starting to regret sending Kuroo-san in there, Akaashi-san?”

“It doesn’t really make a difference who does the waking up, I’m sure that the results would have been the same regardless; especially when it comes to Bokuto-san.” Akaashi sighed loudly and put his hand on his hip, “Though, you have already started to figure that out for yourself, right Tsukishima-kun.”

Kei could already feel his body slumping from the energetic exhaustion that he would end up feeling from the fire mage. He sighed loudly and adjusted his glasses, just barely catching a glimpse of Akaashi’s smirk as he did so. It probably had something to do with the fact that his leech had found himself someone else to latch onto. Goodbye sweet freedom. He closed his eyes and tried to relax when a shout, followed by a loud bang, and then followed by a roar finally shattered the silence.

“Get your ass back here you dumbass cat!” Iwaizumi’s voice exploded; the very walls shaking with his aggravation, “I’m going to kick it so hard that your stupid bed-head lies flat!”

Whatever Kuroo’s response was going to be was drowned out by a loud, booming laugh. Kei turned to Akaashi and noticed that he already had his hand pressed to his forehead with his thumb and forefinger rubbing at his temple. He didn’t have to wait long to see what had happened. Kuroo appeared back in the entrance of the kitchenette; his back facing Kei and Akaashi as he slowly backed into the space.

Kei stared at the bed-headed raven blankly as Iwaizumi soon appeared in the doorway after him; his normally spiky hair pressed flat to his forehead, causing a small fringe to hang in his forest green eyes. His shoulders were bunched around his ears, and his jumper was soaked through. In fact, if the blond were to squint, he could see a drop of fresh water still dripping off the edge of his nose.

“Maa maa Iwa,” Kuroo chuckled jovially, “You know I would never intentionally dump water on you.”

Iwaizumi’s scowl deepened even further; his eyes became near slits as he placed his hand over his left shoulder and started to roll it back. A harsh growl escaped from behind clenched teeth as his fist threatened to swing out and strike the smirking feline into the next dimension. Iwaizumi stalked forward with purpose; ready to lash out at Kuroo, with his magic ready to respond, only for a hand to land on top of his head. Iwaizumi’s very body started to quake with anger and annoyance as Bokuto’s loud laugh came from behind him and the owl-boy’s hand started to rub his hair exuberantly. 

“Bokuto, if you want to keep your hand, I suggest you stop immediately.” He hissed darkly.

Even from where he was standing, Kei felt the need to shrink away from the brunet. As much as Iwaizumi was fun to tease and rile up, he could acknowledge that there was probably a limit. And judging by the fact that Matsukawa hadn’t tried to step in to stop Iwaizumi from surpassing that limit showed that Kuroo-san probably made the metal wielder angry as well. Kei rolled his eyes in annoyance; served the dumbass right.

“Iwa-Iwa,” Bokuto chortled joyously and threw his arm around Iwaizumi’s shoulders, “Give Kubro a pass this time around, he was aiming for me after all and completely missed.”

Kei reared back in surprise as he heard a next to silent laugh escape Akaashi. The blond raised an eyebrow in confusion, but was quickly answered when he took in Kuroo’s tense shoulders. Kei sighed loudly as the raven snapped out his arm and pointed at Bokuto, a squawk of betrayal escaping his lips.

“I didn’t miss,” Kuroo whined exaggeratedly as he took a step towards the pair near the door, “You’re the one who used him as a shield because  _ you _ were  _ scared _ of a little water!”

Bokuto released his own squawk of betrayal and moved around Iwaizumi so that he was now standing toe to toe with Kuroo; his hands moving dramatically as he grabbed onto Kuroo’s shoulders and started rocking him back and forth with every word he uttered.

“I’m not scared of water; I’m a fire mage, Kuroo, fire!”

Kei’s eyes widened in disbelief as the horned owl and the cat started to bicker back and forth about whether or not Bokuto was in fact afraid of water or if Kuroo had misjudged his aim and had missed his target. He looked towards Iwaizumi who had taken up his previous residence at the doorway between the lounge and the kitchenette; leaning against the frame with a small look of exasperation on his face. He also noticed that Matsukawa had taken it upon himself to finally join in and was leaning on the other side of the doorway with amusement tugging at the corner of his lazy smile.

Kei turned to Akaashi who was staring at Bokuto with an almost resigned acceptance,

“Should, uh, should we say something?”

Akaashi sighed,

“No, this will probably go on for a little while.”

Kei shook his head and found himself relaxing against the counter top once more; the sound of Bokuto and Kuroo pushing each other’s buttons creating a sense of calm. He felt his shoulders relax back and his core slump as he watched the duo shove one another’s shoulders. Even from across the way, he could see that Iwaizumi and Matsukawa had eased slightly as well; the self-loathing that Iwaizumi often carried around with him at a dull simmer. Kei closed his eyes and sighed softly. Perhaps there was an upside to blinding stupidity after all. Not that he’d ever admit it out loud.

Suddenly, a heavy darkness started to press down upon him. It was as if it was trying to suck every bit of air out of his body. Kei stiffened and his eyes immediately snapped open; his hands grasping for the edge of the counter behind him instinctively in a blind panic. His gaze jumped around trying to find the source, but all he saw were five pairs of eyes staring at him. Varying degrees of worry and apprehension quickly swallowing the once exuberant atmosphere.

“Tsukishima-kun, what’s wrong?” Akaashi whispered; seemingly hovering as close as he would dare.

“I don’t,” He frowned and tried to force his shoulders to relax; his shoulder brushing against Akaashi, “it’s probably nothing.”

Matsukawa frowned at the statement and crossed his arms over his chest,

“That seemed like a whole lot of something.”

Kei clenched his fists tightly and fought back a wince as the action once again pulled at his palms. He could still feel the weight pressing on him. It felt like it was getting heavier. He could feel his chest tightening little by little as chills swept up and down his spine. It felt so familiar, yet so  _ different _ at the same time. As if reacting to his thoughts, intricate gold lines once again found a home on his arms; as if the light itself was trying to lift the darkness that was trying to push him down.

“We need to get out of here,” Bokuto muttered more morose than Kei ever thought that he would hear him, “Now.”

Before anyone could take a step or even utter a word in response, the sound of something shattering echoed throughout the kitchenette. No. Through the entire house. Kei’s eyes widened as the very house started to rumble and shake around him. Almost crying out in pain as cracks and crevices started to sprout up the walls and across the floor in intricate patterns. Instinctively, his eyes sought out Iwaizumi but he seemed just as perturbed about the movement of the foundation beneath their feet. 

“Move!”

Kei found himself tackled to the floor for perhaps the millionth time in a couple of hours. A curse slipped past his lips as his elbow knocked against the base of the counter he was just leaning against, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much. Where he was just standing only moments before now sat a broken light fixture. He breathed heavily through his nose as he realised just how close he was to losing his head.

“Tsukishima-kun,” Akaashi whispered into his ear, “Are you alright?”

It was the sound of Akaashi’s strained, yet stoic voice that finally clued him into the presence of someone’s weight residing on his lower back. He turned his head slightly and saw the shorter brunet lying half on top of him; his arms working to cover both of their heads. Just above Akaashi’s head was a net of vines acting as some sort of safety net. Kei’s eyes narrowed as he caught a flash of red hidden just beneath Akaashi’s dark fringe.

“Akaashi-san, let me…”

“Nope, no time for that,” Kuroo’s voice suddenly broke in and wrapped a strong hand around Kei’s and Akaashi’s forearms to pull them to their feet, “We’ve got to get going.”

Probably to the surprise of everyone, including himself, Kei found himself listening without hesitation. He let Kuroo drag him and Akaashi towards the side door and out towards the Yamaguchi’s backyard. He looked at Iwaizumi as he passed him and noticed the look of pure determination on his face as he focused on the vines that had crawled up the walls from the crevices in the flooring. His jaw clenched as his concentration never once wavered from making sure that the ceiling remained as it was.

Kei released a breath of air that he didn’t even realise he was holding when the night air brushed across his face. Kuroo didn’t stop dragging him until they were next to the tree that they had been sitting under just hours before. Kei pulled his arm from the raven’s grasp and found himself bent at the waist gasping for air that struggled to enter his lungs. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see both Kuroo and Akaashi breathing heavily with their hands on their hips; the sound of Bokuto’s shouts traveling towards them as he too ran out of the house.

“Tsukki!”

“Kei!”

The blond forced himself into an upright position just long enough to be engulfed in the long arms of Yamaguchi and Akiteru. His head hanging awkwardly over their shoulders as they attempted to squeeze the life out of him. He pushed himself out of their embrace and adjusted his glasses habitually as he looked at them.

“What, what even happened?”

“The wards,” Yamaguchi whispered as he turned back towards their childhood home, “my parents’ wards; they’re gone.”

Kei flinched as a loud groan tore through the silent, night air. He watched as Iwaizumi and Matsukawa came running out of the side door, the earth mage slightly supported by the taller, when the Yamaguchi household folded in on itself like a house of cards. He stared blankly as the home that kept him safe, kept him warm, and kept him loved, toppled over as if it were nothing. He was faintly aware of Yamaguchi tightening the hold that he still had on his wrist, but there was no sound of the freckled man shedding any tears. 

“Tadashi, Kei!”

He slowly turned his head and saw Yamaguchi-kaa-san running towards them; tears streaming down her face and fear in her eyes. As soon as the petite woman got in front of them, she pulled them both down to her height and pressed soft kisses on the crowns of their heads. She wrapped her smaller arms around them and brought them as close to her as she possibly could; as if she was trying to protect them by storing them in the very chambers of her heart.

“Are you boys alright?” She whispered into their necks, “No one was hurt?”

“No ‘kaa-san,” Yamaguchi muttered back softly, “we’re fine.”

She sighed so suddenly that it seemed all the tension fell from her shoulders,

“Thank goodness.”

When she finally stepped away from them, Kei took in their surroundings. His supposed guardians were in various states in the backyard, but all of them staring intently at the shell of what was for a brief time their refuge. However, just as fast as the tension dissipated, it skyrocketed once more to an all time high as he felt the darkness press upon him; the force of it threatening to send him far beneath the ground.

Only this time, everyone else was ready for it. Where once they had been in various positions on the ground, they were now on their feet. Kuroo, Akaashi, Bokuto, Akiteru and Yamaguchi were still standing by his side with Yamaguchi-kaa-san, but Iwaizumi and Matsukawa were at the vanguard; staring resolutely at the remains of the house. Almost robotically, Iwaizumi slid his feet out of his slippers and started to bury his toes in the grass and the soil. Funny, it was only now that he realised all of them were shoeless. 

Kei’s eyes narrowed as he noticed two shadows approaching from beyond the remains of the house. The pair were nearly shrouded by the rubble and steam created by the broken pipes and gas lines. Despite that, he could recognise the overconfident gait of Daishou Suguru coming closer and closer to the wreckage. 

“Well, that could have worked out better; wouldn’t you say so, Sugu-chan?”

“Tch,” The familiar, sly voice hissed, “not my fault that you didn’t hold back. You were just asking them to escape.”

He felt himself wanting to take a step back, but quickly found his back aligned with the body of someone behind him; his body unwittingly trapped in its escape by those who were meant to protect him. Kei couldn’t help but stare at the newcomer. Although he couldn’t see his face, he could make out his energy. An energy that made him want to bow down and accept his fate without question. How disgusting.

“Maybe so,” The newcomer’s teasing voice trilled joyously; pulling Kei from his thoughts, “but that just means we get to play a little bit longer.”

As the words left his mouth, dozens of creatures exploded from the treeline behind the house. Plowing through the remains of the house as if the foundation, insulation and plaster were nothing. Simultaneously, the mages standing around him seemed to get into battle stances whilst Yamaguchi-kaa-san latched onto his wrist tightly. Ready to extract him at a moment's notice. As the creatures bounded forward and into the moonlight, their grotesque forms became all the more visible; a chill travelling constantly up and down his spine.Their mindless anger and bloodlust rolled off the creatures in sickening waves slowly turning his stomach inside out and right side up.

The creatures were so black that even if a little cloud cover had taken over the night sky, Kei and the others would not have been able to see them. They stood on two legs like a human, but their arms were so long that they almost touched the ground. Their fingers had sharp talons growing and the moon shone menacingly on them. Coating them in an almost iridescent blood. Their ears were long and pointed like that of a rabbit’s, but their teeth were long and pointed like that of a wolf’s; on their back however, they had large leathery wings as wide as those of the prehistoric creatures he loved so dearly. 

“What are they?” Kei whispered in disgust.

“Grigames,” Yamaguchi-kaa-san muttered as she latched onto his sleeve more tightly, “They’re creatures of Tokai. Aberrations created from the pain and suffering of those who tried to oppose him.”

His eyes widened; he turned to disbelievingly to look at his mother figure,

“You mean they used to be…”

“Yes, but they’re not mages anymore.” Yamaguchi-kaa-san whispered pityingly, “They’re not even human. And what’s worse, is that they can never truly be saved.”

Kei frowned and stared at the ground; his fists curling into his trousers powerlessly. What about his own magic? Wasn’t it meant to heal? Or was he too unable to do anything? He cursed under his breath and looked up just in time to see as Iwaizumi swept his foot in a wide circle. Physically drawing a line in front of the creatures barrelling towards them. Nothing more than small particles of dirt had to have sprung up from that initial movement, but those particles were nothing compared to the slabs of rock that came shooting out of the earth like missiles; taking out hordes of grigames as they soared through the air and hit their intended target.

“Not bad Iwa~” Matsukawa commented playfully; his familiar drawl teasing as he took his own stance.

Kei stared wide eyed as Matsukawa’s entire right arm and hand turned into a broadsword. He could almost envisage an almost dangerous shine taking over his lazy brown eyes as his thick eyebrows furrowed in fiery determination. The closest he had ever seen Matsukawa get to true violence was when Kuroo tried to goad Iwaizumi earlier that evening and if that was just child’s play; he could only imagine the fire now. 

“So,” The brunet’s voice carried towards those at the tree, “how about after this Tsukishima-san treats us to some ramen?”


End file.
